Measles Transmission in Health Facilities during Outbreaks

Abstract

This study supports the need for children to avoid unnecessary exposure in medical settings during measles outbreaks, especially if those settings are crowded and result in long waiting periods before a consultation.

Tuberculosis infection via the emergency department among inpatients in South Korea: a propensity score matched analysis of the National Inpatient Sample

“…(2012) examined the risk of acute respiratory and gastrointestinal infections following ED visits, and found that the risk of acute infection was three times higher in elderly residents who visited EDs (odds ratio 3.9; 95% CI 1.7e8.6) compared with those who did not visit EDs [20]. Among children from the USA, the risk of infection with measles was significantly higher among those who visited EDs [21,22]. Recent research has suggested that outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), are associated with EDs [23,24].…”

Risk of infection following a visit to the emergency department: a cohort study

“…4 Little attention has been paid to infections acquired in other health care settings. Visiting an emergency department has been identified as a risk for disease during outbreaks of measles 5,6 and SARS, 7,8 but little is known about the potential risk of endemic infection from exposure in this setting. A visit to the emergency department differs from a stay in hospital: exposure and duration of contact with other patients is shorter, but the number and density of patients with acute illness with whom there could be contact is higher.…”

Measles transmission in health care waiting rooms: implications for public health response

“…These changes include a shift in incidence from preschool-aged children to older age groups who may have missed vaccination as a child, an increasing proportion of international importations and an increasing pool of susceptible people among groups whose members do not routinely accept vaccinations such as those opposed to vaccination for religious or philosophical reasons. 1,2 These changes in epidemiology and the infrequency of measles cases has allowed an increased focus on control of onward transmission settings where there is a high risk of measles transmission. 3 Previous studies have shown that outside the home, measles is readily transmitted in educational facilities, sports halls, religious institutions, orphanages, refugee camps, aeroplanes and health facilities.…”