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Nosocomial Influenza outbreak in an intensive-care unit

2001; Elsevier BV; Volume: 31; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0399-077x(01)00275-x

1769-6690

Véronique Jacomo, Catherine Sartor, Christine Zandotti, Catherine Atlan-Gepner, Michel Drancourt,

Nosocomial Infections in ICU

Abstract Objective – The authors investigated a nosocomial outbreak of pneumonia to determine the etiological diagnosis, to evaluate the transmission route, the modalities of prevention, and the cost. Methods – All patients and staff members present in this acute-care unit had nasal wash, pharyngeal sampling and serological testing for detection of pneumonia agents. Epidemiological variables studied included influenza like illness, underlying disease and Influenza vaccine. The estimation of cost included excess days hospitalization, number of laboratory tests, medical imagery and treatment of patients, and sick leave days for staff category. Results – Investigation determined that it was an Influenza A outbreak, with nosocomial acquisition. Nine of 23 hospitalized patients (39%) and 5/22 (23%) staff members had Influenza A infection. Influenza vaccine was protective since the 11% (2/18) attack rate among the vaccinated persons of was significantly lower ( p =0.03) than that of no-vaccinated persons [41% (11/27)]. The influenza vaccine efficacy was 73%. The main over cost associated to this outbreak was due to the excess days hospitalization and was estimated to be of 222 235 Francs. Conclusion – Vaccination of health care workers is essential to prevent nosocomial Influenza spread and may represent important money savings.