http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,74843
ANAPLASMOSIS, NOSOCOMIAL TRANSMISSION - CHINA: (ANHUI)
******************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Tue 18 Nov 2008
Source: MSN Health & Fitness, Journal of the American Medical
Association, news release [edited]
<http://health.msn.com/health-topics/skin-and-hair/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100226439>
The 1st Chinese case of a tick-borne disease called [human]
granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), which then led to person-to-person
transmission of the disease, is described in a study by researchers
at China's National Institute of Communicable Disease Control and
Prevention. It's the 1st known report of human-to-human transmission of HGA.
HGA was identified in the United States in 1990 and in Europe in
1997. The number of infections reported each year in the United
States is rising, with infection rates in endemic areas as high as 15
percent to 36 percent.
The Chinese team launched an investigation after a cluster of HGA
cases occurred in health-care workers and family members following
exposure to a patient with disease symptoms consistent with HGA. The
female patient was bitten by a tick 12 days before the onset of fever
and hemorrhage. She was admitted to a regional hospital in Anhui
province, and later died. Of 28 people who had close contact (20
inches (51 cm) or less) with the patient during the final 12 hours of
her life, 9 became infected with the type of bacteria [_Anaplasma
phagocytophilum_] that causes HGA. All 9 reported contact with the
patient's blood, and 7 had contact with her respiratory secretions.
"The most remarkable aspect of these cases was that transmission was
very unlikely to be tick-borne, but was closely associated with blood
or respiratory secretion from hemorrhage," the researchers wrote.
"Although it is likely that routine blood and fluid precautions will
protect against such future events, strict adherence to protective
protocols is mandatory even if communicability is deemed unlikely."
The researchers added that the lessons of this case study "remain
relevant to the daily hospital and health care unit operations to
prevent any additional [hospital] outbreaks of HGA.
"This report certainly serves to reinforce the importance of adopting
standard blood and body fluid precautions for all patients and
especially for those with HGA; these precautions are the accepted
standard of care in the United States," Dr Peter J Krause, of the
Yale School of Medicine, and Dr Gary P Wormser, of the New York
Medical College, wrote in an accompanying editorial. "The report also
should stimulate further investigation of the existence of _A.
phagocytophilum_ in the region of China where this outbreak originated."
The study was published in the 19 Nov [2008] issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association.
[Byline: Robert Preidt]
</pre>
ANAPLASMOSIS, NOSOCOMIAL TRANSMISSION - CHINA: (ANHUI)
******************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Tue 18 Nov 2008
Source: MSN Health & Fitness, Journal of the American Medical
Association, news release [edited]
<http://health.msn.com/health-topics/skin-and-hair/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100226439>
The 1st Chinese case of a tick-borne disease called [human]
granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), which then led to person-to-person
transmission of the disease, is described in a study by researchers
at China's National Institute of Communicable Disease Control and
Prevention. It's the 1st known report of human-to-human transmission of HGA.
HGA was identified in the United States in 1990 and in Europe in
1997. The number of infections reported each year in the United
States is rising, with infection rates in endemic areas as high as 15
percent to 36 percent.
The Chinese team launched an investigation after a cluster of HGA
cases occurred in health-care workers and family members following
exposure to a patient with disease symptoms consistent with HGA. The
female patient was bitten by a tick 12 days before the onset of fever
and hemorrhage. She was admitted to a regional hospital in Anhui
province, and later died. Of 28 people who had close contact (20
inches (51 cm) or less) with the patient during the final 12 hours of
her life, 9 became infected with the type of bacteria [_Anaplasma
phagocytophilum_] that causes HGA. All 9 reported contact with the
patient's blood, and 7 had contact with her respiratory secretions.
"The most remarkable aspect of these cases was that transmission was
very unlikely to be tick-borne, but was closely associated with blood
or respiratory secretion from hemorrhage," the researchers wrote.
"Although it is likely that routine blood and fluid precautions will
protect against such future events, strict adherence to protective
protocols is mandatory even if communicability is deemed unlikely."
The researchers added that the lessons of this case study "remain
relevant to the daily hospital and health care unit operations to
prevent any additional [hospital] outbreaks of HGA.
"This report certainly serves to reinforce the importance of adopting
standard blood and body fluid precautions for all patients and
especially for those with HGA; these precautions are the accepted
standard of care in the United States," Dr Peter J Krause, of the
Yale School of Medicine, and Dr Gary P Wormser, of the New York
Medical College, wrote in an accompanying editorial. "The report also
should stimulate further investigation of the existence of _A.
phagocytophilum_ in the region of China where this outbreak originated."
The study was published in the 19 Nov [2008] issue of the Journal of
the American Medical Association.
[Byline: Robert Preidt]
</pre>
Anne, there isn't the need to delete your post. It is a piece of news whereas my post is an abstract...