Hundreds of front line NHS staff have received the MMR jab, following an “unprecedented” outbreak of measles at a Worcestershire hospital.
In May, seven positive cases of the highly contagious disease were reported at Worcestershire Royal.
Vulnerable patients – including a pregnant woman – required preventative medicine, while some unvaccinated staff had to isolate for 21 days.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said a review of 8,500 staff had revealed that more than a quarter in patient-facing roles had not been vaccinated or lacked natural immunity. More than 400 have now received the jab.
The three-month measles, external outbreak, which was declared over on 24 July, was described as “unprecedented” by the Worcestershire Acute’s quality governance committee.
According to the hospital trust’s board papers for July, external, the infections included two members of staff working on a higher risk ward.
Three vulnerable hospital patients – a pregnant woman and two patients who had received organ transplants – received Human Normal Immunoglobulin, a preventative medicine containing antibodies to fight infection.
Contact tracing was carried out to identify how many people may have been infected. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said cases were also identified in the community.
At the time of the outbreak, Dame Julie Moore, a non-executive director at the trust, expressed concern about “the lack of a robust process” for checking the vaccination status of staff.
July’s board papers detail how she also “raised the patient safety implications of unvaccinated clinical staff”.