Seroprevalence survey of measles, rubella, varicella, and mumps antibodies in health care workers and evaluation of a vaccination program in a tertiary care hospital in Japan

Vaccine-preventable viral infections in health care workers (HCWs) have been on the rise for the past 10 years in Japan. To reduce the viral infections and the burden of exposure follow-up surveys at a tertiary care hospital in Osaka, Japan, a seroprevalence survey was conducted, and free vaccinations for measles, rubella, varicella, and mumps were offered to newly hired HCWs (199 physicians and 72 nurses and nursing assistants) who had negative serologic results for antibodies against these viruses. Negative antibody titers were obtained from 7.4 % of the newly hired HCWs for measles, 12.5 % for rubella, 4.1 % for varicella, and 15.9 % for mumps. The vaccination program for HCWs improved the vaccine-preventable infection rates and resulted in fewer exposure follow-up surveys, fewer lost work days, and fewer HCWs requiring hospitalization for these viral infections compared with those counted for the previous year. These data indicate that all HCWs should be strongly recommended to be vaccinated against (or have documented immunity to) these viruses in Japan, as is the case in the United States.