Ferrari Cristiana, Somma Giuseppina, Gentili Sandro, Manili Gianmarco, Mauro Gaetano, Treglia Michele, Trabucco Aurilio Marco, Magrini Andrea, Coppeta Luca
Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.
Office of Medical Forensic Coordination, Italian National Social Security Institute (INPS), 00144 Rome, Italy.
Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Nov 19;11(22):2992. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11222992.
Rubella is a contagious viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults. Rubella is the leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects. Rubella infection in pregnant women may cause fetal death or congenital defects known as congenital rubella syndrome. There is no specific treatment for rubella, but the disease is preventable by vaccination with an efficacy of over 95%. Vaccination coverage is still below the recommended levels and many cases have occurred worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the immunization programs and the quality of disease surveillance worldwide. Operators of the healthcare setting are at increased risk of infection due to their work duties and should receive preventive vaccination or serologic protection to work in a healthcare setting.
To evaluate the serological evidence of rubella IgG antibodies in female healthcare operators of childbearing age, to assess the risk of a breakthrough infection and the need for an additional dose of vaccine.
We collected age and antibody titers from 449 young female operators aged <50 years who underwent the periodic surveillance at the Occupational Medicine Unit of the Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome, from January to July 2022. Subjects were considered immune if the anti-rubella IgG titer was >11.00 IU/mL.
The rate of serologically unprotected subjects was 9.13% (41/449). The mean age of protected subjects was 26.93 years, while the mean age of unprotected subjects was 28.24 years. Age did not correlate with mean titer on statistical analysis ( = 0.10). The acceptance rate among unprotected operators was 31.7%. A positive attitude towards vaccination was found in 11/28 (39.3%) of the unvaccinated subjects, while a negative tendency was found in 2/28 (7.1%) of these subjects; most of the unvaccinated operators 15/28 (53.6%) prefer to postpone the administration of the vaccine. When compared with a similar population from the pre-pandemic period, the actual proportion of immune female subjects was not significantly different from that found in 2019 (90.87% vs. 90.3%).
Protection against rubella was suboptimal among female healthcare workers of childbearing age. Acceptance of the rubella vaccine among these operators was low. Most of those who were hesitant intended to postpone the vaccination, while a minority had negative attitudes toward vaccination. A policy of mandatory vaccination policy should overcome the reluctance of operators.
风疹是一种传染性病毒感染，最常发生于儿童和年轻人。风疹是可通过疫苗预防的出生缺陷的主要病因。孕妇感染风疹可能导致胎儿死亡或先天性缺陷，即先天性风疹综合征。风疹没有特效治疗方法，但通过接种疫苗可预防，疫苗效力超过95%。疫苗接种覆盖率仍低于推荐水平，全球仍有许多病例发生。新冠疫情对全球免疫规划和疾病监测质量产生了负面影响。医疗机构工作人员因其工作职责感染风险增加，应接种预防性疫苗或获得血清学保护才能在医疗机构工作。
评估育龄期女性医护人员风疹IgG抗体的血清学证据，评估突破性感染风险及额外一剂疫苗的需求。
我们收集了2022年1月至7月在罗马托尔韦尔加塔综合医院职业医学科接受定期监测的449名年龄小于50岁的年轻女性工作人员的年龄和抗体滴度。抗风疹IgG滴度>11.00 IU/mL的受试者被视为有免疫力。
血清学无保护的受试者比例为9.13%（41/449）。有保护的受试者平均年龄为26.93岁，无保护的受试者平均年龄为28.24岁。经统计学分析，年龄与平均滴度无相关性（=0.10）。无保护的工作人员中接种疫苗的接受率为31.7%。在未接种疫苗的受试者中，11/28（39.3%）对疫苗接种持积极态度，而2/28（7.1%）持消极态度；大多数未接种疫苗的工作人员15/28（53.6%）倾向于推迟接种疫苗。与疫情前时期的类似人群相比，有免疫力的女性受试者的实际比例与2019年的比例无显著差异（90.87%对90.3%）。
育龄期女性医护人员对风疹的防护并不理想。这些工作人员对风疹疫苗的接受度较低。大多数犹豫不决的人打算推迟接种，少数人对疫苗接种持消极态度。强制接种疫苗政策应能克服工作人员的抵触情绪。
