-Report on Experiments and Clinical Cases-

Susceptibility to Measles, Rubella, Mumps, and Varicella-zoster Viruses among Healthcare Workers

Cenk Aypak¹, Yasemin Bayram², Hayriye Eren², Adalet Altunsoy³ and Mustafa Berktaş⁴

¹Department of Family Medicine, Gevas State Hospital, Turkey
²Department of Microbiology, Van Training and Research Hospital, Turkey
³Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Van Training and Research Hospital, Turkey
⁴Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Van Yüzücü Yıl University, Turkey

Background: It is important to identify and immunize susceptible healthcare workers to prevent and control hospital infections. Our aim was to evaluate the specific antibodies against the measles, mumps, and rubella viruses and the varicella zoster virus among healthcare workers in a tertiary-care hospital.
Patients and Methods: A total of 284 healthcare workers (89 men and 195 women; mean age, 33.5 ± 11 years), including 111 nurses, 87 physicians, 34 laboratory technicians, and 52 members of the housekeeping staff, of Van Training and Research Hospital were enrolled in this study. Antibodies were detected with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The numbers of workers with serological susceptibility to mumps, measles, rubella, or chicken pox were 26 (9.2%), 18 (6.3%), 7 (2.5%), and 5 (1.8%), respectively. Although the difference was not statistical significant, the rate of seroprevalence of antibodies was lowest for measles (90.8%; p>0.05). Susceptibility to measles, mumps, and rubella, and chicken pox was more prevalent among young healthcare workers (p<0.001). Not all healthcare workers born before 1957 were immune to these vaccine-preventable diseases.
Conclusion: These data confirm that screening and vaccination of susceptible healthcare workers is essential regardless of age.

J Nippon Med Sch 2012; 79: 453-458

Keywords
measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, healthcare worker

Correspondence to
Cenk Aypak, MD, Department of Family Medicine, Gevas State Hospital, Van 65110, Turkey
cenkaypak@yahoo.com

Received, September 18, 2011
Accepted, February 16, 2012