Interim Infection Control Guidelines For Measles In Healthcare Facilities

Please share this message to all personnel who may encounter patients presenting for care at your facility and personnel responsible for infection prevention activities within your organization. 

From: Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division of CDPHE. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released interim infection prevention and control recommendations for healthcare facilities during the on-going measles outbreak. The recommendations can be accessed here:https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/measles/index.html

While the most important measure to prevent measles transmission in all settings is ensuring community immunization, core measles prevention in healthcare settings requires a multi-faceted approach, including:
- Ensuring HCP have presumptive evidence of immunity to measles*
- Rapidly identifying and isolating patients with known or suspected measles
- Adhering to Standard and Airborne Precautions for patients with known or suspected measles
- Routinely promoting and facilitating respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette
- Appropriately managing exposed and ill HCP

*While CDC considers birth before 1957 adequate presumptive evidence for immunity for health care workers, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recommends health care workers have either written documentation of vaccination with 2 doses of measles virus-containing vaccine (the first dose administered at age 12 months or under; the second dose no earlier than 28 days after the first dose); or laboratory evidence of immunity (measles IgG positive, equivocal results are considered negative), even if they were born prior to 1957. Health care workers in Colorado who do not meet this criteria may be excluded from work if they are exposed to someone with measles. 

Children's Hospital Colorado requests that if possible, patients being referred to their facility who are suspected of having measles be sent to their main emergency department or their campus in Colorado Springs where they are better equipped to ensure infection control guidelines are met, rather than one of their satellite or urgent care clinics. 

Patients suspected of having measles should be immediately reported to the local public health department or CDPHE (303-692-2700, after-hours 303-370-9395).