Should health care workers be tested for VZV immunity prior to vaccination?
Data available to date indicate that in the health care setting, a positive history of disease is a reliable predictor of positive immune status. Among tested health care workers > 97-99% of those with a positive history had antibodies when tested. Employees who do not have a convincing history of prior varicella should be considered susceptible and serological testing can be offered to determine immune status. Serologic screening of adults with a negative or uncertain history is cost-saving compared with vaccinating all those without a definite history, because 70% to 90% are actually immune when tested. Health care workers from tropical climates are more likely to be susceptible to varicella as adults than persons born in the U.S. For ensuring that Health care workers assigned to high risk patients are immune, hospitals may elect to do serology testing for all such employees irrespective of disease history.
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- Should health care workers be tested for VZV immunity prior to vaccination?
