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Typically, there is no serious complication for a pregnant woman or her baby from exposure to a person with Parvovirus B19, or "Fifth" disease. About 50% of women are already immune to Parvovirus B19, so these women and their babies are protected from infection and illness. Even if a woman is susceptible and gets infected with Parvovirus B19, she usually experiences only a mild illness. Likewise, her unborn baby usually does not have any problems attributable to a Parvovirus B19 infection.

VUMC faculty and staff born after 1956 are required to be vaccinated against measles unless they have laboratory-proven immunity to measles.

Parvovirus B-19 infection is also known as Fifth Disease. Fifth Disease is usually a mild illness that resolves without medical treatment among children and adults who are otherwise healthy. However, pregnant women who are infected with Parvovirus during early pregnancy have a 5% risk of miscarriage. (Also see article Parvovirus B19 Exposure in Pregnancy.)

VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterocci) and MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus) are common in hospitals. Staph is a normal bacteria on human skin and Enterocci are normal bacteria in the human bowel. Patients who have been hospitalized for long periods develop resistant bacteria as a result of exposure to many antibiotics or the hospital environment. In recent years resistant organisms have become very common in the community and patients often bring them into the hospital.

Because healthcare workers must wash their hands frequently they sometimes get dry, cracked or red skin that can also be painful. Some Causes of Hand Dermatitis:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires noise in the workplace to be below 90 decibels over an 8 hour shift (a method called time weighted average is used for this measurement).

Anyone who is at risk for contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials is strongly encouraged to receive the hepatitis B vaccine series.

Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a herpes virus that most women of child-bearing age have already acquired.