Seroprevalence of Pertussis Antibody among Health Care Personnel in Spain

• Published in: European journal of epidemiology Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 69 - 72
• Main Authors: de Juanes, Jose-Ramón, Gil, Angel, González, Antonio, Arrazola, María-Pilar, San-Martín, María, Esteban, Jesús
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers 01.01.2004; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Age groups; Antibodies; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Bordetella pertussis; Bordetella pertussis - immunology; Cohort Studies; Disease outbreaks; disease transmission; Ent and stomatologic bacterial diseases; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Epidemiology; Female; Health care; Health care industry; Health risk assessment; Hospitals; Hospitals, General - statistics & numerical data; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Incidence; Infectious Diseases; Male; Medical personnel; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - analysis; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Personnel, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; pertussis; Physicians; Retrospective Studies; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Spain - epidemiology; Students; Training; Vaccination; Whooping cough; Whooping Cough - blood; Whooping Cough - epidemiology; Whooping Cough - immunology; Workforce; Europe; Spain; Human; Prevalence; Respiratory disease; Antibody; Health staff; Health care staff; Serology; Occupational exposure; Epidemiology; Whooping cough; Seroprevalence; Spain; Infection; Pertussis; Risk factor; Bacteriosis; Public health; Health care personnel
• ISSN: 0393-2990; 1573-7284
• DOI: 10.1023/B:EJEP.0000013270.63515.e6

Pertussis in healthcare workers is of particular concern, as they can be in contact with infected patients and may transmit the infection to susceptible patients, co-workers and other contacts. This study was carried out to examine the prevalence of pertussis antibodies in hospital personnel. A total of 487 healthcare workers ≥25 years in age and students (19-24 years) in hospital training were recruited. The overall prevalence of pertussis antibody determined by ELISA was 51.7%. No significant differences on prevalence by age group (19-24, 25-34, 35-44 and ≥45 years) and occupation (student, physician, nursing personnel and non-healthcare occupations) were found. In Spain, health care personnel in a general hospital will not have a significantly higher risk of serologically detectable contact with B. pertussis. Fifty percent of physicians and nursing personnel working in hospital were seronegative for pertussis antibody. A high percentage of these subjects will be susceptible to infection.