Study question Can avian influenza A (H7N9) virus be transmitted between unrelated individuals in a hospital setting? Methods An epidemiological investigation looked at two patients who shared a hospital ward in February 2015, in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Samples from the patients, close contacts, and local environments were examined by real time reverse transcriptase (rRT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and viral culture. Haemagglutination inhibition and microneutralisation assays were used to detect specific antibodies to the viruses. Primary outcomes were clinical data, infection source tracing, phylogenetic tree analysis, and serological results. Study answer and limitations A 49 year old man (index patient) became ill seven days after visiting a live poultry market. A 57 year old man (second patient), with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, developed influenza-like symptoms after sharing the same hospital ward as the index patient for five days. The second patient had not visited any poultry markets nor had any contact with poultry or birds within 15 days before the onset of illness. H7N9 virus was identified in the two patients, who both later died. Genome sequences of the virus isolated from both patients were nearly identical, and genetically similar to the virus isolated from the live poultry market. No specific antibodies were detected among 38 close contacts. Transmission between the patients remains unclear, owing to the lack of samples collected from their shared hospital ward. Although several environmental swabs were positive for H7N9 by rRT-PCR, no virus was cultured. Owing to delayed diagnosis and frequent hospital transfers, no serum samples were collected from the patients, and antibodies to H7N9 viruses could not be tested. What this study adds Nosocomial H7N9 transmission might be possible between two unrelated individuals. Surveillance on patients with influenza-like illness in hospitals as well as chickens in live poultry markets should be enhanced to monitor transmissibility and pathogenicity of the virus. Funding, competing interests, data sharing Funding support from the Program of International Science and Technology Cooperation of China (2013DFA30800), Basic Work on Special Program for Science and Technology Research (2013FY114600), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81402730), Special Program for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in China (2013ZX10004218), US National Institutes of Health (1R01-AI108993), Zhejiang Province Major Science and Technology Program (2014C03039), and Quzhou Science and Technology Program (20111084). The authors declare no other interests and have no additional data.
We report a disease outbreak caused by chikungunya virus in Zhejiang Province, China, in August 2017. Phylogenic analysis indicated that this virus belonged to the Indian Ocean clade of the East/Central/South African genotype and was imported by a traveler returning from Bangladesh.
The implementation of routine testing of blood donations for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) has allowed the characterization of the performance of the test in a large number of samples from apparently healthy individuals. This study reports the experience of the American Red Cross in testing 2.3 million donors for anti-HBc. The test protocol reproducibly identified a distinct population of donors. The anti-HBc-positive rate varied by region of the continental United States and by the time of year. In a case-control study, 85 percent of subsequent donations from anti-HBc-positive donors were anti-HBc positive. The predictions made in an earlier pilot study regarding the performance and impact of the test were borne out.
Enteroviruses are responsible for hand, foot, and mouth disease, and have caused many deaths in China during recent years. But the natural history of enterovirus infection in children, especially asymptomatic children, is not yet clear. From April 2011 to May 2012, 505 stool and throat swab samples of children attending outpatients clinics in two hospitals were collected weekly to test for Enterovirus 71, Coxsackievirus A16, and other enterovirus nucleic acids by real-time RT-PCR. Two hundred sixty-four patients were enterovirus positive, the positive rate was 52.3%, 27.5% (22/80) in children without a rash and 56.9% (242/425) in children with a rash. Coxsackievirus A16 positive rate of male (24%, 61/254) was higher than that of female (15.2%, 26/171) (χ(2) = 4.87, P = 0.027). The highest positive rate of enterovirus infection was 63.5% in the 2-year-old age group. Comparing children with and without a rash, within the same age groups, no statistical difference was found (P > 0.05). The seasonal distribution of Enterovirus 71 had only one peak in May, but Coxsackievirus A16 had two peaks in April and October. In patients with a rash, the frequency of Enterovirus 71 was relatively high before July, and then that of Coxsackievirus A16 increased gradually. In the case of Enterovirus 71 and Coxsackievirus A16, stool specimens had a higher positive rate than throat swab specimens' (χ(2) = 3.88, P = 0.05; χ(2) = 15.13, P < 0.001). Enterovirus infection was more frequent in males 2-3 year-old children, with the implicated virus varying by season. Targeted prevention and control measures should be carried out.
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