Summer outbreak of respiratory disease in an Australian prison due to an influenza A/Fujian/411/2002(H3N2)-like virus.
An outbreak of influenza A occurred in a prison system in New South Wales, Australia in January 2003 during the southern hemisphere summer. This report documents only the third confirmed outbreak of influenza in a prison environment. The outbreak investigation included case ascertainment, state-wide surveillance, a case-control study and interventions to limit the outbreak such as infection control, quarantine, cohorting of cases, and the use of antiviral medication for prophylaxis. A total of 37 clinical cases were identified. Influenza A virus was detected in 11 of the 22 respiratory tract specimens collected. The virus was typed as an influenza A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like virus. This strain subsequently became the predominant virus strain during the northern hemisphere winter and the following 2003 Australian southern hemisphere winter influenza season.
Young
L C
LC
Justice Health, NS W Health, Matraville, NS W, Australia. lorraine.young@justicehealth.nsw.gov.au
Dwyer
D E
DE
Harris
M
M
Guse
Z
Z
Noel
V
V
Levy
M H
MH
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011330:Prisons; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012621:Seasons; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires