Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:33:04.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seroepidemiology of varicella-zoster virus antibodies among health-care workers and day-care-centre workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2004

Y. LERMAN ,
G. CHODICK ,
S. TEPPER ,
G. LIVNI  and
S. ASHKENAZI
Y. LERMAN
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, Israel Schneider Children's Medical Centre, Kaplan 14, Petach-Tiqva, Israel
G. CHODICK
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, Israel National Institute for Occupational & Environmental Health, PO Box 3, Raanana, Israel
S. TEPPER
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, Israel National Institute for Occupational & Environmental Health, PO Box 3, Raanana, Israel
G. LIVNI
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, Israel National Institute for Occupational & Environmental Health, PO Box 3, Raanana, Israel
S. ASHKENAZI
Affiliation:
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, PO Box 39040, Tel-Aviv, Israel National Institute for Occupational & Environmental Health, PO Box 3, Raanana, Israel
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Inclusion of live varicella vaccine in the routine occupational health vaccination schedule requires knowledge of the natural immunity to varicella zoster virus (VZV) among high-risk occupations. This study aims were to evaluate VZV antibody positivity among health-care workers (HCWs) and day-care-centre workers (DCWs) and to assess its association with potential risk factors. Three groups of workers were tested for VZV antibody positivity: hospitals and community clinic HCWs (n=335), DCWs (n=117) and blue-collar workers as controls (n=121). The total VZV antibody positivity was 94·4%. There was no significant difference in VZV antibody positivity among study groups. DCWs had the lowest VZV seroprevalence (90·9%, 95% CI 85·7–96·1) and controls the highest (96·6%, 95% CI 93·2–99·9). This high VZV antibody positivity suggests that no special occupational measures are indicated in health-care or day-care occupational settings in Israel. On-going monitoring of the natural immunity to VZV is necessary to detect trends over time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 132 , Issue 6 , December 2004 , pp. 1135 - 1138
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press