title: An echovirus 30 outbreak with a high meningitis attack rate among children and household members at four day-care centers.
abstract: Echovirus 30 (E 30) outbreaks in defined cohorts have rarely been reported. In June 1996, an outbreak of E 30 occurred in four day-care centers (DCCs) in neighboring villages in Germany. A retrospective cohort study of DCC children, employees and household members was done to determine the extent of the outbreak and risk factors for illness. Forty-two percent (39/92) of DCC children, 13% (30/228) of their household members, 5% (1/19) of employees and 2% (1/49) of household members of employees were ill. Onsets occurred over 31 days. Thirteen percent (12/92) of DCC children had meningitis. In only one of 16 households with multiple family members ill, illness in a family member preceeded that of the DCC child. Household members of ill DCC children were 15 times more likely to report illness than those of non-ill DCC children. We conclude that this outbreak was associated with a very high incidence of meningitis, the outbreak began in the DCCs and then spread to household members, and that household members of ill children compared to those of non-ill children were much more likely to report illness.
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: U C
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Vieth
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunzelmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diedrich
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Timm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ammon
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lyytikäinen
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004457:Echovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D029822:Enterovirus B, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution