title: Probable secondary infections in households of SARS patients in Hong Kong.
abstract: Although severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is highly infectious in clinical settings, SARS has not been well examined in household settings. The household and household member attack rates were calculated for 1,214 SARS case-patients and their household members, stratified by two phases of the epidemic. A case-control analysis identified risk factors for secondary infection. Secondary infection occurred in 14.9% (22.1% versus 11% in earlier and later phases) of all households and 8% (11.7% versus 5.9% in the earlier and later phases) of all household members. Healthcare workers' households were less likely to be affected. Risk factors from the multivariate analysis included at-home duration before hospitalization, hospital visitation to the SARS patient (and mask use during the visit), and frequency of close contact. SARS transmission at the household level was not negligible in Hong Kong. Transmission rates may be greatly reduced with precautionary measures taken by household members of SARS patients.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. jlau@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: Joseph T F
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Mason
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Jean H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hi-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Tze Wai
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016358:Contact Tracing; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires