CDC Updates Measles Guidelines for Health Care Providers

The CDC has released updates to its Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Measles in Healthcare Settings.

Among the recommendations:

• Ensure that all health care personnel have available evidence of measles immunity, including documentation of vaccination with 2 doses of the vaccine, laboratory evidence of immunity or confirmation of disease, or birth before 1957. However, during an outbreak, all health care personnel should be vaccinated, regardless of birth year.
• Provide patients with suspected measles with arrival instructions when scheduling appointments, and utilize existing triage stations to rapidly identify and isolate these patients.
• Adhere to the CDC’s Standard Precautions and Airborne Precautions.
• Evaluate all exposed health care personnel, patients, and visitors for measles immunity. Health care personnel with suspected measles should refrain from working for 4 days after the appearance of the rash.
• In the event of an outbreak, group infected patients together and create expedient patient isolation rooms.

“This interim guidance should be implemented in the context of a comprehensive infection prevention program to prevent transmission of all infectious agents among patients, health care personnel, and visitors,” they wrote. 

—Michael Potts

Reference:

CDC. Interim infection prevention and control recommendations for measles in healthcare settings. https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/Measles-Interim-IC-Recs-H.pdf. Published July 24, 2019. Accessed July 25, 2019.