An Outbreak of Rubella among Hospital Personnel

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Abstract
An outbreak of 47 cases of rubella occurred among hospital personnel in a large medical-surgical hospital. As a result, one pregnancy was terminated and 475 employee workdays were lost. Epidemiologic investigation of the outbreak suggested a common source; a dietary worker was identified as the probable index case. Serum samples of 12 per cent of women employees were negative for rubella antibody at the time of the outbreak. Neither a history of rubella nor a history of immunization with rubella vaccine was reliable in the prediction of the presence or absence of immunity. Two thirds of all hospital personnel were immunized through a voluntary mass-immunization program, but the response of physicians to the program was disappointing.