[Antibody development and frequency of events temporarily associated with measles and rubella vaccines among university health personnel in Jalisco].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the seroprevalence, seroconversion, anamnesic response and events temporally associated with immune status pre and post immunization with measles and rubella vaccine in health personnel from a public University in Guadalajara, Mexico.


METHODS
We carried out a prospective, longitudinal and comparative study from May to June 2000 among 120 healthy volunteers. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. We administered measles (Schwarz) and rubella (RA 27/3) vaccines. Weekly phone calls during six weeks were recorded from each volunteer to assess local and systemic events temporally associated with immunization non attributable to any other disease. Serum samples were obtained before and after vaccination in 75 volunteers. Antibodies against measles and rubella were measured by an enzyme immunoassay kit (Behring) with cut-off points of 300mUI/mL 8UI/mL respectively. Statistical analysis included mean, standard deviation and paired Student's t-test (P < 0.05).


RESULTS
105/120 participants (87.5%) were followed during 6 weeks. 87.4% were health personnel and 44.6% were males. The age range was 17-71 years (median = 21). We found a prior history of measles in 57.1%. Local events included pain, heat, redness and induration and were reported by 4/105. Systemic events such as fever, exanthema, pain in joints and arthritis was reported by 9/105. The proportion of study subjects with protective antibodies against measles and rubella prior to vaccination was 90.7 and 94.7% respectively. Both groups reached 100% after vaccination.


CONCLUSIONS
The proportion of non-immune health personnel was low and similar to other reports. However, the potential spread of measles and rubella virus from a non-immunized infected health care provider could be amplified by the number of patients seen daily during the peak period of 3-5 days. The vaccination of health personnel should be encouraged.
Villaseñor-Sierra
Alberto
A
Hospital de Pediatría Centro Medico Nacional Occidente, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Guadalajara, Jal., México. avillase@prodigy.net.mx
Santos-Preciado
José Ignacio
JI
Alvarez-y-Muñoz
María Teresa
MT
Rivas-García
María Elena
ME
Martínez-Sandoval
Francisco
F
Falcón-Franco
Marco Antonio
MA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012411:Rubella Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors
D000906:Antibodies; D008458:Measles Vaccine; D012411:Rubella Vaccine