Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control-Online Journal

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Analysis of Measles Antibody Titers in the Staff of Gunma Chuo Hospital

Yuka UEHARA¹⁾, Toshiyuki SHIGOKA¹⁾, Yoko BUYA¹⁾, Sakiko IGAWA²⁾, Masanori MIYAMAE²⁾ and Asako YASUNO³⁾
¹⁾Department of Clinical Laboratory, Gunma Chuo Hospital, Japan Community Health care Organization, ²⁾Department of Infection Control, Gunma Chuo Hospital, Japan Community Health care Organization, ³⁾Health faculty of nursing Takasaki University of Health and Welfare

We checked the vaccine records and measles antibody titers of all medical and clerical staff at our hospital in accordance with the measles response guidelines at medical facilities to determine the need for revaccination since 2016. Based on the results in 2017, 397 employees were judged to be in need of revaccination, and of these, 319 were revaccinated in the period from then to the present. As a result, the guideline compliance rate has risen from 48% to 89%. However, analysis of antibody titers revealed that the number of employees who had higher antibody titers than the guideline's standard level was low, especially in younger generations. Among employees over 40 years old, most of whom had not received the measles vaccine, more than 70% had higher antibody levels than the standard. But among employees who were 28-39 years old, most of whom had received the vaccine once, only 48% were higher than the standard level; among employees between 21 and 27 years old, most of whom had received the vaccine twice, only 35% were higher than the standard level. Moreover, a very low antibody titer, which was under 3.0, was observed in one young employee who had received the vaccine twice, indicating a high chance of contracting measles. Considering the results, we think that it is more important to factor in antibody levels when planning the deployment of staff during measles outbreaks.

Key words：measles, vaccination record, antibody titer, medical staff, guidelines

e-mail: yuka-mezaki＠gunma.jcho.go.jp

Received: October 8, 2019
Accepted: November 25, 2019

35 (2)：75─80,2020