Seroepidemiology of varicella-zoster virus antibodies among health-care workers and day-care-centre workers

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Abstract
Inclusion of live varicella vaccine in the routine occupational health vaccination schedule requires knowledge of the natural immunity to varicella zoster virus (VZV) among high-risk occupations. This study aims were to evaluate VZV antibody positivity among health-care workers (HCWs) and day-care-centre workers (DCWs) and to assess its association with potential risk factors. Three groups of workers were tested for VZV antibody positivity: hospitals and community clinic HCWs (n=335), DCWs (n=117) and blue-collar workers as controls (n=121). The total VZV antibody positivity was 94·4%. There was no significant difference in VZV antibody positivity among study groups. DCWs had the lowest VZV seroprevalence (90·9%, 95% CI 85·7–96·1) and controls the highest (96·6%, 95% CI 93·2–99·9). This high VZV antibody positivity suggests that no special occupational measures are indicated in health-care or day-care occupational settings in Israel. On-going monitoring of the natural immunity to VZV is necessary to detect trends over time.

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