Reemergence of measles in vaccinated patients: report of 6 cases and proposals for prevention

A 2014 measles outbreak in Catalonia affected 131 persons. We describe a series of 6 cases diagnosed in our emergency department. All the patients were under 31 years of age and complained of flu-like symptoms, including high fever and rash. Five had been properly vaccinated and one was a health care worker. A firm diagnosis of measles need not be made in the emergency department, but a high level of suspicion is important for ruling out complications, isolating the patient, and protecting health care staff at high risk for exposure. We found that 6% of the staff of our emergency department had a low level of immunity to measles. Given our findings, we suggest that preventive treatment is necessary when health care staff have been exposed to measles and their vaccination status is unknown.