A global perspective of vaccination of healthcare personnel against measles: Systematic review
Vaccine·
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.11.005
- PMID
- 24280280
- PMCID
- PMC4691996
- OpenAlex
- W2096598181
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The review identifies gaps in vaccination policies and implementation that pose risks to both healthcare personnel and patients. Establishing measles vaccination policies for healthcare personnel is highlighted as an important strategy toward achieving measles elimination and should be a priority for global policy setting groups, governments, and hospitals.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The review examined measles vaccination policies for healthcare personnel globally, their implementation, measles seroprevalence among healthcare workers, transmission and disease burden in healthcare settings, and the impact and costs of healthcare-associated measles transmission.
Study design
Systematic literature review covering five database searches that yielded 135 relevant articles plus 47 additional articles identified through cross-referencing.
Population and setting
Healthcare personnel globally, with specific focus on countries including the United States and Finland. The review covered articles published from 1982 to 2013.
Main findings
Susceptible healthcare personnel face an estimated 2 to 19 times higher risk of acquiring measles than the general population. Fifty-three articles documented measles transmission from patients to healthcare personnel, many of whom were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Eighteen articles described transmission from healthcare personnel to patients or other healthcare personnel. Half of European countries lack measles vaccine policies for healthcare personnel, and no global policy recommendation exists. Measles serosusceptibility among healthcare personnel varied widely (median 6.5%, range 0-46%) and was consistently higher among younger workers.
Public-health relevance
The review identifies gaps in vaccination policies and implementation that pose risks to both healthcare personnel and patients. Establishing measles vaccination policies for healthcare personnel is highlighted as an important strategy toward achieving measles elimination and should be a priority for global policy setting groups, governments, and hospitals.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. The original paper should be consulted for decision-grade interpretation, including detailed methodology, full results, and author-stated limitations of the systematic review.
GIDS interpretation
The article was linked to measles, COVID-19, and SARS disease classifiers, likely reflecting the general relevance to healthcare-associated infectious disease transmission and vaccination policy. The systematic review provides context on healthcare worker vaccination gaps and transmission risks that may inform outbreak response and policy development.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 14 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.