Poor immunity status against poliomyelitis in medical students: a semi-anonymous study

In spite of almost complete eradication, poliomyelitis continues to be a global threat even in non-endemic countries due to the ever-increasing international travel activities. Health care workers are at a special risk in acquiring pathogens from travelers returning from endemic countries. Polio vac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical microbiology and immunology 2013-02, Vol.202 (1), p.63-65
Main Authors: Külshammer, Manuel, Winke, Ute, Frank, Monika, Skali-Lami, Ursula, Steudel, Henrike, Schilling, Gert, Drexler, Jan Felix, Eis-Hübinger, Anna Maria, Matz, Bertfried
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies, Neutralizing - blood
Antibodies, Viral - blood
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
College students
Data Collection
Germany
Humans
Immunization
Immunology
Medical Microbiology
Medical schools
Neutralization Tests
Original Investigation
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis - prevention & control
Poliovirus
Poliovirus - immunology
Students, Medical
Vaccines
Virology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In spite of almost complete eradication, poliomyelitis continues to be a global threat even in non-endemic countries due to the ever-increasing international travel activities. Health care workers are at a special risk in acquiring pathogens from travelers returning from endemic countries. Polio vaccines are fairly well accepted throughout the German population. Yet, laboratory controls for successful immunization are carried out only sporadically in the general population, and not even the medical staff are routinely tested for polio immunity. The present study was initiated in order to assess the immunity status of young people at the very beginning of their career in clinical medicine. Within their first clinical semester, all students are supposed to undergo an obligatory health check in our Occupational Medicine Unit. A blood sample is taken and sent under a personal code to our diagnostic laboratories for virus serology, and for cryoconservation of residual serum, if available. Within the periods 2004–2006 and 2008–2010, we analyzed sera from 424 and 427 individuals, respectively, for anti-polio types 1, 2, 3 antibodies by a microneutralization assay. In the latest study period, there was a slight increase in the rate of fully protected persons: 63.9 % triple-seropositivity versus 57.1 % in the period 2004–2006. By the end of the second clinical semester, students with low or negative antibody levels (1:
ISSN:0300-8584
1432-1831
DOI:10.1007/s00430-012-0237-2