Korean J Nosocomial Infect Control.  2008 Jun;13(1):24-31.

Measles Outbreaks and Infection Control in a Tertiary Hospital

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. heejinmd@medimail.co.kr
  • 2Infection Control Service, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Both the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases and The Korean Center for Diseases Control recommended MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccination to health care workers (HCWs) but this had rarely been applied mainly due to economic reasons. In this paper, we report a measles outbreak initiated by two inpatients and then spread to other nine infants and three HCWs. We also report that this outbreak was successfully contained by active infection control measures.
METHODS
Measles cases were determined according to CDC clinical criteria and confirmed by the level of the measles-specific IgM antibody. Suspected patients were isolated in aeration-limited areas. After measles cases in HCWs were detected, people in 26 pediatric wards were screened for measles-specific IgG antibody. MMR (measle, rubella, mumps) vaccination was applied to HCWs who were negative for measles-specific antibodies or HCWs who were exposed but not sure of their vaccination status.
RESULTS
From April 21 to June 4 in 2007, measles-infected patients consisted of eleven infants (11 months old in median age) and three HCW women. Antibody screening revealed that only 73% (19 out of 26) in pediatric wards were positive for measles-specific IgG. After a medical doctor was confirmed as measles-infected, health care worker exposed to measles patients were all vaccinated without antibody test.
CONCLUSION
The precise level of anti-measles antibody in adults has to be revealed by further studies involving multiple organizations. This result could be helpful for establishing a proper health care policy of MMR vaccination.

Keyword

Measles; Disease outbreaks; Disease transmission; Patient-to-professional

MeSH Terms

Adult
Antibodies
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Communicable Diseases
Delivery of Health Care
Disease Outbreaks
Female
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin M
Infant
Infection Control
Inpatients
Mass Screening
Measles
Mumps
Rubella
Tertiary Care Centers
Vaccination
Antibodies
Immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin M
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