Original Articles
Vol. 14 (2019)
https://doi.org/10.3269/1970-5492.2019.14.10
A POTENTIAL OUTBREAK OF MEASLES AND CHICKENPOX AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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In Italy there is currently a measles outbreak among the general population related to insufficient
vaccine coverage. Despite the highest infectivity of some diseases, the guidelines released in the
National Vaccination Plan recommend basic vaccination among HCWs.
In March 2018, one case of measles and one of chickenpox occurred among two young medical
doctors who had come into contact with 153 people. We investigated, within 24 hours, the
immunization status of close contacts, providing vaccinations for those not immune and isolation for
people with premature signs/symptoms of infection. All patients analyzed (n=13) were immune.
Among HCWs (n=140), 16 weren’t immune for chickenpox and 7 for measles. All contacts that were
not immunized were vaccinated within 72 hours, however, despite this, in one case we found antibody
values that indicated a recent infection. The high contagiousness of measles led to a further case of
illness among close contacts of the first young HCW infected, which could have been avoidable with
the implementation of mandatory vaccination policies for all health care workers.
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A POTENTIAL OUTBREAK OF MEASLES AND CHICKENPOX AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL. (2026). EuroMediterranean Biomedical Journal, 14. https://doi.org/10.3269/1970-5492.2019.14.10
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