The Investigation of Seroprevalence of Measles, Rubella, Mumps, and Varicella in Medical Students

Introduction: Medical students, as well as other healthcare workers, are at risk for various infectious diseases, some of which are preventable through vaccination. There is insufficient study indicating the seroprevalence of these infections among medical students in our country and there is no vaccination program. It was aimed in this study to investigate the seroprevalence of chickenpox, rubeola, rubella and mumps that can be overcome by medical students and determine those who need vaccination. Materials and Methods: The study included 84 students who were in the first, second and third years of medical faculties in 2015. With a questionnaire, disease and vaccination history of every student was noted. Measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox IgG antibody levels were studied by enzyme immunoassay. Results: The age of the 84 students studied ranged from 18 to 27 and the mean age of students was 20.9 ± 1.9. Mean age of the female students was 20.4 ± 1.8 and that of the male students was 22 ± 1.7. Seropositivity rates were as follows: measles IgG 90.4%, rubella IgG 98.8%, mumps 90.4%, chickenpox 95.2%. The relationship between ilness-immunization history and varicella, measles, rubella, mumps seropositivity was examined and the p values were found as 0.399, 0.637, 0.084, 0.387, respectively. Conclusion: It is necessary for medical students to be informed about vaccine preventable diseases to investigate immune status, and to vaccinate those who are not vaccinated before clinical studies