Singh Harpreet, Pandya Kapil H, Bhatti V K, Lathwal Sumit, Kumar M
Joint Director Medical Services (Ex-servicemen), O/o Director General Medical Services (Army), IHQ, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, India.
Joint Director, Armed Forces Medical Services, O/o Director General Armed Forces Medical Services, IHQ, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, India.
Med J Armed Forces India. 2022 Apr;78(2):136-139. doi: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2019.12.004. Epub 2020 Mar 23.
Adult and immunocompromised patients suffering from varicella (chicken pox) are potential source of infection to healthcare workers. An outbreak of varicella among healthcare workers in a tertiary care centre was investigated, and preventive measures were implemented.
Cases of chicken pox between 05 Feb 2017 and 11 Feb 2017 in a tertiary healthcare establishment were investigated. An epidemiological investigation by developing case definitions, spot map and contact tracing was conducted. Eight cases were identified among healthcare workers. Suitable preventive measures including identification of susceptible contacts and vaccination of susceptible ones with two doses of varicella vaccine was undertaken.
Index case was a 21-year-old nurse who was exposed to a 34-year-old male patient transferred from a secondary care hospital on 24 Jan 2017 as a case of acute liver failure and coagulopathy. Primary case was later diagnosed as case of varicella based on serological and clinical evidence. Among a total of 8 cases identified in the outbreak, the cases occurred among healthcare workers of secondary care centre, healthcare workers managing the primary case in the intensive care unit and who conducted the autopsy. A total of 181 contacts were identified in the epidemiological investigation, and 54 were susceptible to chicken pox. Two-dose immunization with varicella vaccination of susceptible ones was found to be effective in preventing further cases.
Two-dose vaccination of healthcare workers with varicella vaccine is an effective strategy to prevent nosocomial varicella among healthcare workers.
患有水痘的成人及免疫功能低下患者是医护人员潜在的感染源。对一家三级医疗中心医护人员中发生的水痘疫情进行了调查，并实施了预防措施。
对一家三级医疗机构在2017年2月5日至2017年2月11日期间的水痘病例进行调查。通过制定病例定义、绘制点状地图和进行接触者追踪开展了流行病学调查。在医护人员中确定了8例病例。采取了适当的预防措施，包括识别易感接触者并为易感者接种两剂水痘疫苗。
首例病例是一名21岁的护士，她于2017年1月24日接触了一名从二级护理医院转来的34岁男性患者，该患者为急性肝衰竭和凝血病病例。根据血清学和临床证据，首例病例后来被诊断为水痘病例。在此次疫情中确定的总共8例病例中，病例发生在二级护理中心的医护人员、重症监护病房中负责首例病例的医护人员以及进行尸检的人员之中。在流行病学调查中总共识别出181名接触者，其中54人对水痘易感。发现对易感者进行两剂水痘疫苗免疫接种可有效预防更多病例。
对医护人员进行两剂水痘疫苗接种是预防医护人员医院内水痘的有效策略。
