Rubella Immunity among Italian Female Healthcare Workers: A Serological Study

Luca Coppeta, Cristiana Ferrari, Ilaria Iannuzzi, Iacopo D’Alessandro, Ottavia Balbi, Antonio Pietroiusti and Marco Trabucco Aurilio
Additional contact information
Luca Coppeta: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Cristiana Ferrari: School of Occupational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Ilaria Iannuzzi: School of Occupational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Iacopo D’Alessandro: School of Occupational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Ottavia Balbi: School of Occupational Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Antonio Pietroiusti: Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
Marco Trabucco Aurilio: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-6

Abstract: Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infectious disease caused by virus of the genus Rubivirus, which may be prevented by vaccination. The infection is potentially dangerous for non immune subjects, although 20–50% of infected subjects are asymptomatic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have an increased potential exposure to rubella in comparison to the general population, putting them and their patients at risk of infection and its complications. In 2019, 20 cases of rubella have been reported in Italy. According to the Italian National Immunization and Prevention Plan, HCWs should provide a written certification of vaccination for rubella or serological evidence of protective antibodies. The aim of the study was to evaluate the rubella immunization status in female HCWs of the teaching hospital Policlinic Rome Tor Vergata (PTV) of childbearing age. For this purpose, we retrospectively checked the serologic values of rubella-specific IgG antibodies analyzing the clinical records of the HCWs of undergoing the occupational health surveillance program from January 1st to June1st 2020. Five hundred fourteen HCWs with a mean age of 23.19 (range 19–37, DS: 2.80) were included: 90.3% (464) showed a protective antibody titre. The mean value of the anti-rubella IgG was 49.59 IU/mL. Our study shows a non-protective anti rubella IgG titre in a substantial percentage of HCWs (9.7%). As vaccine protection decreases over the years and the risk of congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in vaccinated subjects should not be underestimated, we suggest routine screening of the immunological status followed by the administration of a third dose of vaccine if the antibody titre becomes non-protective.

Keywords: occupational transmission of rubella; rubella; vaccination strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7992/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7992/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7992-:d:437607

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().