AMDA – THE SOCIETY FOR POST-ACUTE AND LONG-TERM CARE MEDICINE MEASLES STATEMENT

Measles continues to spread through the United States. From January 1 through October 3, 2019, 1,250 individual case of measles have been confirmed in 31 states. This is the greatest number of cases reported in the United States since 1992 and an increase from 372 cases in 2018. Measles was declared eliminated in the Unites States in 2000.

These recent measles outbreaks might affect the staff at our post-acute and long-term care facilities. Considering the age of our patients, most of them are immune and therefore their risk of developing measles is low; however, the risk exists for pediatric facilities.

This has prompted the Society to recommend that each facility assess the status of its health care personnel (defined as any person working in health care settings who could be exposed to patients) on measles immunity. Please refer to details on health care personnel immunization by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Interim guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on infection prevention and control for measles in health care settings is available here.