Question for your employee health department new hire immunization screening process:
Does your facility automatically run titers on new hires that lack documented vaccinations?
We are in process of reviewing our BBP program and the recommendations specifically surrounding Hepatitis B immunity. The current guidance is to consider HCP immune to Hep B only if they have the documentation of a completed vaccine series AND the titer is 10mIU/mL. To this point, the CDC post-exposure document states clinicians who cannot provide documentation of 3 doses of Hep B vaccine should be considered unvaccinated and should complete the series. Rationale given is those who are inadvertently tested before receiving three documented doses of Hep B vaccine and have anti-HBs of 10 mlU/ml or more should NOT be considered immune because anti-HBs of 10 mlU/ml or more is a known correlate of protection only when testing follows a documented three-dose series.
For Oregon facilities, where immunizations cannot be used as a condition of employment - do you mind sharing your onboarding immunization screening process? Send to: LLG04@GRH.ORG
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Lori Graber
Infection Preventionist
La Grande, Oregon
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