Abstract: Healthcare workers are a population exposed to several infectious diseases, and an\nimmunization programme is essential for the maintenance of good vaccination coverage to protect\nworkers and patients. A population of 10,653 students attending degree courses at Padua Medical\nSchool (medicine and surgery, dentistry and health professions) was screened for vaccination\ncoverage and antibody titres against rubella, mumps, and measles. The students were subdivided\ninto five age classes according to their date of birth: those born before 1980, between 1980 and 1985,\nbetween 1986 and 1990, between 1991 and 1995, and after 1995. Vaccination coverage was very low\nin students born before 1980, but the rate of positive antibody titre was high due to infection in\ninfancy. Increasing date of birth showed increased vaccination coverage. In contrast, immune\ncoverage was high for rubella (more than 90%) but not for mumps and measles (approximately\n80%). An â??anomalyâ? was observed for mumps and measles in the cohort born between 1991 and\n1995, probably due to the trivalent vaccine formulation. Students born after 1990 showed\nvaccination coverage that exceeded 90%. It is therefore very likely that we will have a future\ngeneration of healthcare workers with optimal vaccination coverage.
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