Nursery-associated hepatitis A traced to a male nurse.
A small epidemic of nursery-associated hepatitis A (HA), in which silently infected children played a cryptic role in transmitting the illness to adult contacts, was investigated. It was found that a male nurse had transmitted HA to four children before he fell ill. He was not heard from for about two months as he was a part-time worker and was admitted to a local hospital in another prefecture. Two of the four silently infected children transmitted HA to their parents who then revealed the presence of nursery-associated HA. The epidemic was terminated by injection of human gamma globulin to nursery children and to antibody-negative parents, nursery staff and other contacts except for two breakthrough cases.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007116:Immunization, Passive; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010125:Ostreidae / Q000382:microbiology; D005719:gamma-Globulins
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D005719:gamma-Globulins