Risk of Absence of Measles Antibody in Healthcare Personnel and Efficacy of Booster Vaccination

Chung-Jong Kim,Jihee Kim,Hee-Jung Son,Miae Lee,Kang-Il Jun,Ji-Yun Bae,Hee-Jung Choi,Hae-Sun Chung,Aeyeon Kim

doi:10.3390/vaccines9050501

Abstract

We aimed to identify the presence of the measles IgG antibody (mIgG-Ab) in healthcare personnel and finding out who needs the measles vaccination. The history of measles vaccination was obtained from the national vaccine registry. A baseline mIgG-Ab test was performed, and the measles vaccine was administered to participants who tested negative or equivocal for mIgG-Abs. During the study, 2885 (87.3%) of the 3303 employees were tested for measles serostatus. The baseline seropositivity rate for mIgG-Abs was 91.9%. Among the 234 seronegative cases, 82.9% were born after 1985. The seroprevalence rate was lower in those who received the measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine >10 years before the testing time, especially if they were born after 1985 and if there was only one previous record of vaccination. Among the 234 seronegative cases, MMR vaccination was administered in 174 cases, of which serostatus was evaluated in 146 cases. After the first dose, positive seroconversion was achieved in 126 participants (86.3%). After a second dose, 15 achieved (75.0%) positive seroconversion. In healthcare personnel born after the period when measles incidence significantly decreased, it may be necessary to reassess their immune status for measles if more than 10 years have elapsed since the last vaccination.

Highlights

Measles has re-emerged in recent times and its local epidemic outbreaks have frequently occurred worldwide [1,2,3,4]
The exclusion criteria for vaccination against measles were as follows: (1) pregnancy or future pregnancy planned within 2 months, (2) presence of an allergy to any antibiotic included in vaccine components, (3) history of a severe adverse event to a previous vaccination, and (4) lack of consent to participate in the study
2885 (87.3%) of the 3303 employees were tested for measles serostatus

Summary

Introduction

Measles has re-emerged in recent times and its local epidemic outbreaks have frequently occurred worldwide [1,2,3,4]. In South Korea, measles tends to recur mainly in children younger than 2 years of age and women in the age group 2–39 years [4,7]. This finding is supported by recently published data, which revealed a low rate of seropositivity for the measles antibody if the individuals tested were born after 1994 [8]. It remains unclear as to whether the low seropositivity rate among these individuals is attributable to primary vaccine failure or waning of immunity over time

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