title: Type 8 pneumococcal pneumonia: an outbreak on an oncology ward.
abstract: An outbreak of four cases of type 8 Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia occurred on an Oncology Ward during a five-day period. All four patients had underlying malignancy and were in close proximity to each other on an open ward. No other patients or hospital personnel had type 8 S pneumoniae on throat or nasopharyngeal cultures. The implications of the outbreak with respect to transmission of this disease and role of pneumococcal vaccination are discussed.
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification; D013714:Tennessee