2019 Volume 45 Issue 8 Pages 479-484
The Pharmaceutical Education Council recommends that students of a 6-year-pharmacy degree program should be tested for their antibody titers to measles, rubella, varicella and mumps before clinical training, and if antibody titers aren't sufficient, they should get vaccinated. However, there are no regulations on testing methods, the level of antibody titers considered not positive, or the frequency of vaccinations. In addition, the requirement of antibody titer measurements and HB vaccines are not regulated, and whether Pharmacists graduated from a 6-year-pharmacy degree program have acquired immunity as healthcare workers aren't clear.
Therefore, we investigated the antibody-positive-rates of Pharmacists who started working at our hospital after graduation from a six-year-pharmacy degree program to evaluate whether they have acquired immunity, and compared with them with the antibody-positive-rates of doctors and nurses.
When antibody titers of the Pharmacists were evaluated based on a general standard, antibody-positive-rates for measles, rubella, varicella and mumps were 100％, 95％, 100％, and 37.5％. On the other hand, when evaluation was conducted by a standard for healthcare workers, antibody-positive-rates were 50％, 60％, 100％, and 37.5％, respectively. The antibody-positive-rate for HBs was 15％. The antibody-positive-rate for mumps of the Pharmacists was significantly lower than that of the nurses. In addition, the antibody-positive-rate for HBs of the Pharmacists was significantly lower than that of the doctors and the nurses.
Further rise in the antibody-positive-rates of Pharmacists graduated from a 6-year-pharmacy degree program can be expected by defining the testing methods and criteria for antibody titers, and the frequency of vaccinations.
