Measles outbreaks - potential threat for health care professionals

A C Westgeest; D de Mooij; C Y Eger; N M Delfos; M van der Feltz; L G Visser; G H Groeneveld

doi:10.1016/j.infpip.2020.100074

Measles outbreaks - potential threat for health care professionals

Infect Prev Pract. 2020 Jul 9;2(3):100074. doi: 10.1016/j.infpip.2020.100074. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Authors

A C Westgeest¹, D de Mooij², C Y Eger¹, N M Delfos², M van der Feltz², L G Visser¹, G H Groeneveld¹

Affiliations

¹ Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Infectious Diseases, C5-P, P.O. box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
² Alrijne Hospital Leiderdorp, Simon Smitweg 1, 2353 GA Leiderdorp, The Netherlands.

Abstract

The ongoing spread of measles is a major concern for public health. Optimal vaccination coverage amongst health care professionals (HCP) is essential for individual protection. This is illustrated by our two cases of measles infection in HCP during the 2018 outbreak in Europe. We developed a questionnaire to assess protection against measles amongst HCP working in acute care of a tertiary hospital in The Netherlands. In total, 29% of these professionals were not protected against measles. During current worldwide measles outbreaks, it is paramount for employee health protection, patient protection and disease control to register and optimize employees' immunity.

Keywords: Health care professionals; Measles; Nosocomial infection.