Combining High-Resolution Contact Data with Virological Data to Investigate Influenza Transmission in a Tertiary Care Hospital

N. Voirin, C. Payet, A. Barrat, C. Cattuto, N. Khanafer, C. Régis, B. Kim, B. Comte, J.-S. Casalegno, B. Lina, P. Vanhems, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 36, 254 (2015)

OBJECTIVE Contact patterns and microbiological data contribute to a detailed understanding of infectious disease transmission. We explored the automated collection of high-resolution contact data by wearable sensors combined with virological data to investigate influenza transmission among patients and healthcare workers in a geriatric unit.
DESIGN Proof-of-concept observational study. Detailed information on contact patterns were collected by wearable sensors over 12 days. Systematic nasopharyngeal swabs were taken, analyzed for influenza A and B viruses by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and cultured for phylogenetic analysis.
SETTING An acute-care geriatric unit in a tertiary care hospital.
PARTICIPANTS Patients, nurses, and medical doctors.
RESULTS A total of 18,765 contacts were recorded among 37 patients, 32 nurses, and 15 medical doctors. Most contacts occurred between nurses or between a nurse and a patient. Fifteen individuals had influenza A (H3N2). Among these, 11 study participants were positive at the beginning of the study or at admission, and 3 patients and 1 nurse acquired laboratory-confirmed influenza during the study. Infectious medical doctors and nurses were identified as potential sources of hospital-acquired influenza (HA-Flu) for patients, and infectious patients were identified as likely sources for nurses. Only 1 potential transmission between nurses was observed.
CONCLUSIONS Combining high-resolution contact data and virological data allowed us to identify a potential transmission route in each possible case of HA-Flu. This promising method should be applied for longer periods in larger populations, with more complete use of phylogenetic analyses, for a better understanding of influenza transmission dynamics in a hospital setting.

URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9512001&fileId=S0899823X14000531

BIBTEX:

@article{ICE:9512001,
author = {Voirin,Nicolas and Payet,Cécile and Barrat,Alain and Cattuto,Ciro and Khanafer,Nagham and Régis,Corinne and Kim,Byeul-a and Comte,Brigitte and Casalegno,Jean-Sébastien and Lina,Bruno and Vanhems,Philippe},
title = {Combining High-Resolution Contact Data with Virological Data to Investigate Influenza Transmission in a Tertiary Care Hospital},
journal = {Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology},
volume = {36},
pages = {254},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1017/ice.2014.53},
URL = {http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=9567989&fileId=S0899823X14000531},
}