Viral infections: occupational risk for pregnant health-care personnel?

Health-care personnel (HCP) are exposed to infectious diseases throughout the course of their work. The concerns of pregnant HCP are considerable because certain otherwise mild infections may affect fetal development. We studied 424 pregnant HCP at the University Hospital Frankfurt / Germany between March 2007 and July 2011. Serological tests were carried out for varicella zoster virus (VZV), measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and parvovirus B19. Our overall seroprevalence data with regard to VZV, MMR, CMV and parvovirus B 19 corresponded to the general population. It was striking that, only 57.1% of the study population was immune against the four vaccine-preventable diseases (MMR, VZV). Our study suggests that a comprehensive approach to improving the vaccination status of said HCP before pregnancy is paramount.