Incidence of whooping cough in Spain (1997-2010): an underreported disease.

UNLABELLED: Whooping cough is currently the worst controlled vaccine-preventable disease in the majority of countries. In order to reduce its morbidity and mortality, it is essential to adapt vaccination programmes to data provided by epidemiological surveillance. A population-based retrospective epidemiological study to estimate the minimum annual undernotification rate of pertussis in Spain from 1997 to 2010 was performed. The incidence of pertussis cases reported to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System was compared with the incidence of hospital discharges for pertussis from the National Surveillance System for hospital data, Conjunto Mínimo Básico de Datos. The overall reported incidence and that of hospitalisation for whooping cough were 1.3 cases × 100,000 inhabitants in both cases. Minimum underreporting oscillated between 3.8 and 22.8 %, according to the year of the study. The greatest underreporting (50 %) was observed in children under the age of 1 year. CONCLUSION: Spanish epidemiological surveillance system of pertussis should be improved with complementary active systems to ascertain the real incidence. Paediatricians and general practitioners should be sensibilized to the importance of notification because this would be essential for adapting the prevention and control measures of this disease.

Susceptibilidad frente a sarampión y varicela en el personal sanitario de un hospital de tercer nivel en Cataluña / Susceptibility to measles and varicella in healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital in Catalonia

Introducción: Estimar la susceptibilidad al sarampión y la varicela del personal sanitario según características demográficas y laborales en un hospital universitario y público de tercer nivel en Cataluña. Métodos Estudio de prevalencia realizado de enero de 2006 a diciembre de 2008 en 2.752 trabajadores a los que se había realizado determinación de serología frente a sarampión y/o varicela mediante test de ELISA en un examen de salud. Se analizaron los datos según sexo, edad, categoría profesional y unidad de trabajo. Resultados Se detectaron 153 profesionales susceptibles a sarampión y 187 a varicela. La susceptibilidad de los trabajadores a sarampión fue del 6,04% (IC 95%: 5,78-6,30) y a varicela del 7,45% (IC 95%: 7,14-7,75). La susceptibilidad a sarampión más elevada fue la de los médicos internos residentes (MIR), con un 14% (IC 95%: 10,8-18,5). En servicios de alto riesgo, que atienden a pacientes especialmente inmunocomprometidos, la susceptibilidad de los trabajadores fue ligeramente superior a la del resto, tanto para sarampión (6,32 vs 5,93%) como para varicela (8,34 vs 7,09%). Los trabajadores nacidos después de 1980 tenían 20 veces (IC 95%: 11,0-37,2) más probabilidad de ser susceptibles a sarampión y 2 veces (IC 95%: 1,2-3,2) más de ser susceptibles a varicela que los nacidos antes de 1965.ConclusiónLa susceptibilidad frente a sarampión en el personal sanitario de nuestro centro es elevada en las cohortes más jóvenes, con cifras superiores a las esperadas en una comunidad con altas coberturas vacunales frente a triple vírica en población pediátrica desde hace muchos años (AU)

Introduction: To estimate the susceptibility to measles and varicella (chickenpox) in healthcare workers in a public tertiary level teaching hospital, in Catalonia. Methods: A prevalence study was conducted from January 2006 to December 2008 on 2,752 workers who had serology performed for the determination of measles or varicella by ELISA test during a health examination. Data were analysed by, sex, age, professional category and work unit. Results: A total of 153 healthcare workers were susceptible to measles and 187 to varicella. The susceptibility of healthcare workers to measles was 6.04% (95% CI: 5.78 to 6.30), and to varicella it was 7.45% (95%CI: 7.14 to 7.75). The highest susceptibility to measles was in resident physicians with 14% (95% CI: 10.8 to18.5). In high-risk services, where highly immunocompromised patients are attended, the susceptibility of workers was slightly higher than the rest to measles (6.32% vs 5.93%) and varicella (8.34% vs 7.09%).Healthcare workers born after 1980 were 20 times (95% CI: 11.0 to 37.2) more likely to be susceptible to measles, and 2 times (95% CI: 1.2 to 3.2) more likely to be susceptible to varicella than those those born before 1965. Conclusions: The susceptibility to measles in healthcare workers in our centre is higher in younger cohorts, with values higher than expected in a community with high vaccination coverage against measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR) in the paediatric population for many years (AU)

[Susceptibility to measles and varicella in healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital in Catalonia]. / Susceptibilidad frente a sarampión y varicela en el personal sanitario de un hospital de tercer nivel en Cataluña.

INTRODUCTION: To estimate the susceptibility to measles and varicella (chickenpox) in healthcare workers in a public tertiary level teaching hospital, in Catalonia. METHODS: A prevalence study was conducted from January 2006 to December 2008 on 2,752 workers who had serology performed for the determination of measles or varicella by ELISA test during a health examination. Data were analysed by, sex, age, professional category and work unit. RESULTS: A total of 153 healthcare workers were susceptible to measles and 187 to varicella. The susceptibility of healthcare workers to measles was 6.04% (95% CI: 5.78 to 6.30), and to varicella it was 7.45% (95% CI: 7.14 to 7.75). The highest susceptibility to measles was in resident physicians with 14% (95% CI: 10.8 to 18.5). In high-risk services, where highly immunocompromised patients are attended, the susceptibility of workers was slightly higher than the rest to measles (6.32% vs 5.93%) and varicella (8.34% vs 7.09%). Healthcare workers born after 1980 were 20 times (95% CI: 11.0 to 37.2) more likely to be susceptible to measles, and 2 times (95% CI: 1.2 to 3.2) more likely to be susceptible to varicella than those those born before 1965. CONCLUSIONS: The susceptibility to measles in healthcare workers in our centre is higher in younger cohorts, with values higher than expected in a community with high vaccination coverage against measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR) in the paediatric population for many years.