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Measles Immunity Among Community Hospital Employees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Peter Houck ,
Gay Scott-Johnson  and
Lylanne Krebs
Peter Houck*
Affiliation:
Division of Field Epidemiology, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia
Gay Scott-Johnson
Affiliation:
Infection Control Department, Yakima Valley Memomorial Hospital, Yakima, Washington
Lylanne Krebs
Affiliation:
Occupational Health Department, Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, Yakima, Washington
*
Indian Health Service, Room 300, 2201 6th Ave., Seattle, WA 98121
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Abstract

Objective:

To define measles immunity rates among employees at 2 hospitals during a community outbreak in 1990.

Design:

Cohort survey using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and questionnaire.

Setting:

Two community hospitals.

Participants:

Seventy-six percent of 2,060 employees.

Results:

Seven percent (115/1566) of participants lacked ELISA-defined measles immunity. Among employees whose ages were known, 14% (64/467) of those born after 1956 and 5% (50/1086) of those born before 1957 lacked serologic evidence of immunity. Fifty-eight percent of the susceptible persons had substantial patient contact. With ELISA results as the reference for immunity, the predictive value of an undocumented positive history of measles disease or vaccination was 95%; the predictive value of a negative history of both was 52%. Measles developed in 7 employees.

Conclusions:

A substantial number of hospital employees lacked ELBA-defined measles immunity, including many who had patient contact or who had been born before 1957. Undocumented disease and vaccination histories were not adequate predictors of serologic status. This study supports the recommendations and suggestions of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee that hospitals should require documented evidence of measles immunity from employees who have patient contact.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 12 , Issue 11 , November 1991 , pp. 663 - 668
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1991

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