Measles Immunity among New Health Personnel at a Faculty of Medicine in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, 2019

Abstract

Measles continues to be an important global health problem despite the implementation of vaccination. Health personnel, a high-risk group, are considered to have immunity to measles. We aimed to investigate the measles immunity status among health personnel during pre-placement at the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, northeastern Thailand. The sample included health personnel who were examined in the pre-placement program from October 2018 to September 2019. Data collected included sex, age, department, job characteristic (direct or indirect contact with patients), position, measles immunity status, based on serology tests, history of previous infection, and history of immunization. A total of 652 health personnel were included, of which 53.8% tested positive to measles IgG class antibodies, indicating prior exposure to the virus. Among them, the percentage testing positive to measles immunity was 59.5%. Two-thirds of personnel who could not recall their infection or vaccination history had a positive measles immunity status. A consensus for the definition of acceptable presumptive evidence of measles immunity in Thailand according to context must be stipulated, leading to improved management of measles immunization.

Keywords: measles, immunity, health personnel, Thailand