title: Institutional outbreak of rubella in a healthcare center in Chandigarh, North India.
abstract: Rubella is traditionally considered a childhood disease but it has the potential to cause outbreaks in closed communities when a susceptible population accumulates. The present study reports an outbreak of rubella among healthcare workers in the pediatric center of a tertiary care North Indian hospital. The cases of rubella were identified by clinical features and confirmed by the detection of anti-rubella IgM antibodies in blood by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A total of 23 cases of rubella occurred over a period of one and a half month, out of which 9 (39%) were males. All the patients were in the age group of 21-35 years. None of the patients gave a history of rubella vaccination. This outbreak of rubella occurred due to the accumulation of a susceptible population in a closed hospital environment. There is need for the introduction of rubella vaccination in healthcare workers to prevent outbreaks at work place.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Mini P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Kavita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Diddi
authors.forename: Sunil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dogra
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.forename: Subhash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Radha K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Ratho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012409:Rubella / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M