Nosocomial Hepatitis A
A Multinursery Outbreak in Wisconsin
- Bruce S. Klein, MD;
- Jacqueline A. Michaels, RN;
- Michael W. Rytel, MD;
- Keith G. Berg, RM;
- Jeffrey P. Davis, MD
- From the Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta (Dr Klein); the Bureau of Community Health and Prevention, Wisconsin Division of Health, Madison (Dr Davis); the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Dr Rytel and Ms Michaels); and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison (Mr Berg).
Abstract
Seven premature infants contracted asymptomatic hepatitis A while hospitalized in an intensive care nursery (nursery A) from May through August 1981. Fifteen secondary cases occurred between Aug 13 and Oct 14 and included six family members of nursery A infants, five nursery A nurses, and three nurses and a physician at two other nurseries—B and C. Nurseries B and C had each received an infected infant transferred from nursery A in July. An epidemiologic investigation was conducted to determine the mode of transmission of hepatitis A in infants. A common vehicle was not identified. Review of dates of onset of illness in adults suggested that hepatitis A was transmitted in at least two generations of illness in infants at nursery A. Evaluation of infant handling in nursery A, using a case-control study, suggested that hepatitis A was transmitted among infants by nurses. Asymptomatic infected premature infants can be a source of hepatitis A in nursery infants and personnel and in the community.
(JAMA 1984;252:2716-2721)
Footnotes
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Presented in part at the 22nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Miami Beach, Fla, Oct 4-6, 1982.
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Trade names are for identification only and do not imply endorsement by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Public Health Service.
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Reprint requests to Field Services, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr Klein).
