Tweet
Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2011 Apr 18. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00251.x. [Epub ahead of print]
Lack of evidence for pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1) 2009 in an outbreak among teenagers; Germany, 2009.
Hermes J, Bernard H, Buchholz U, Spackova M, L?w J, Loytved G, Suess T, Hautmann W, Werber D.
Source
Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology (PAE), Berlin, Germany European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden Landratsamt W?rzburg, Local Health Authority, W?rzburg, Germany Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleissheim, Germany.
Abstract
Please cite this paper as: Hermes et al. (2011) Lack of evidence for pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1) 2009 in an outbreak among teenagers; Germany, 2009. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00251.x. Background Observations on the role of pre-symptomatic transmission in the spread of influenza virus are scanty. In June 2009, an outbreak of pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection occurred at a teenager's party in Germany. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study among party guests. A case was defined as pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection confirmed by rRT-PCR who developed influenza-like illness between 1 and 5 June 2009. Contact patterns among party guests were evaluated. Results In eight (36%) of 27 party guests, the outcome was ascertained. A travel returnee from a country with endemic pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 who fell ill toward the end of the party was identified as the source case. Party guests with pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection had talked significantly longer to the source case than non-infected persons (P-value: 0?001). Importantly, none (0/9) of those who had left the party prior to the source case's symptom onset became infected compared to 7 (41%) of 17 who stayed overnight (P = 0?06), and these persons all had transmission-prone contacts to the source case. Conclusions In this outbreak with one index case, there was no evidence to support pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic A(H1N1) 2009. Further evidence is required, ideally from larger studies with multiple index cases, to more accurately characterize the potential for pre-symptomatic transmission of influenza virus.
? 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
PMID:
21668675
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Lack of evidence for pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1) 2009 in an outbreak among teenagers; Germany, 2009.
Hermes J, Bernard H, Buchholz U, Spackova M, L?w J, Loytved G, Suess T, Hautmann W, Werber D.
Source
Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology (PAE), Berlin, Germany European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden Landratsamt W?rzburg, Local Health Authority, W?rzburg, Germany Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleissheim, Germany.
Abstract
Please cite this paper as: Hermes et al. (2011) Lack of evidence for pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic influenza virus A(H1N1) 2009 in an outbreak among teenagers; Germany, 2009. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-2659.2011.00251.x. Background Observations on the role of pre-symptomatic transmission in the spread of influenza virus are scanty. In June 2009, an outbreak of pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection occurred at a teenager's party in Germany. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study among party guests. A case was defined as pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection confirmed by rRT-PCR who developed influenza-like illness between 1 and 5 June 2009. Contact patterns among party guests were evaluated. Results In eight (36%) of 27 party guests, the outcome was ascertained. A travel returnee from a country with endemic pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 who fell ill toward the end of the party was identified as the source case. Party guests with pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 infection had talked significantly longer to the source case than non-infected persons (P-value: 0?001). Importantly, none (0/9) of those who had left the party prior to the source case's symptom onset became infected compared to 7 (41%) of 17 who stayed overnight (P = 0?06), and these persons all had transmission-prone contacts to the source case. Conclusions In this outbreak with one index case, there was no evidence to support pre-symptomatic transmission of pandemic A(H1N1) 2009. Further evidence is required, ideally from larger studies with multiple index cases, to more accurately characterize the potential for pre-symptomatic transmission of influenza virus.
? 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
PMID:
21668675
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
