Lack of protection for measles among Italian nurses. A potential for hospital outbreak

Nurse's job involves staying close to the patient for an extended time period and a high risk of transmission for airborne pathogens, including measles. Previous studies found high rate of operators unprotected for measles. We evaluated the immunization status for measles in nurses of a large hospital in Rome.We retrospectively evaluated the clinical records of nurses working in Tor Vergata hospital who underwent the occupational health screening program. Gender, age, work area and levels measles-specific IgG were evaluated.This study included 358 nurses. 77.7% (217) had a protective measles-specific IgG antibodies level. Protection rate was higher among workers aging 40 years (82.6% vs 68.7%; p0.01). The mean value of the anti-measles IgG was 217.2±91.1 AU/ml. Males showed higher values than females (253.3 vs 214.6; p0.01).Our study revealed a non-protective anti measles IgG level in a high percentage of nurses, even among those working in high risk areas.