OHCP with acute or chronic medical conditions such as immune deficiency syndromes, chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes mellitus, cancer, emphysema, heart failure, malnutrition), those undergoing immunosuppressive therapy (e.g., radiotherapy, chemotherapy, anti-graft rejection medications, steroids, monoclonal antibodies), and older OHCP are susceptible to opportunistic infections or the reactivation of latent vaccine-preventable infections.
Such individuals should discuss the problem with their personal physician to determine if their medical condition might affect their ability to safely perform their duties. Furthermore, this would be an opportune time to review the vaccination status of the individual with respect to vaccine preventable diseases, i.e., hepatitis B, influenza, varicella/zoster, measles/mumps/rubella, human papillomavirus (HPV), tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis, meningococcus, pneumococcus, and hepatitis A infections.
