| Literature DB >> 11181159 |
A W Mounts1, H Kaur, U D Parashar, T G Ksiazek, D Cannon, J T Arokiasamy, L J Anderson, M S Lye.
Abstract
During 1998-1999, an outbreak of Nipah virus encephalitis occurred in Malaysia. To assess the possibility of nosocomial transmission, 338 health care workers (HCWs) exposed and 288 HCWs unexposed to outbreak-related patients were surveyed, and their serum samples were tested for anti-Nipah virus antibody. Needlestick injuries were reported by 12 (3%) HCWs, mucosal surface exposure to body fluids by 39 (11%), and skin exposure to body fluids by 89 (25%). No encephalitis occurred in either group. Three exposed and no unexposed HCWs tested positive by EIA for IgG antibodies. It is likely that these 3 were false positives; no IgM response occurred, and the serum samples were negative for anti-Nipah virus neutralizing antibodies. The risk of nosocomial transmission of Nipah virus appears to be low; however, given the high case-fatality rate and the presence of virus in respiratory secretions and urine of some patients, standard and droplet infection-control practices should be maintained with these patients.Entities:
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Year: 2001 PMID： 11181159 DOI： 10.1086/318822
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Infect Dis ISSN： 0022-1899 Impact factor: 5.226