A case of nosocomial cholera during a community outbreak in a Thai-Myanmar border area.
The present study presents a case of nosocomial cholera in one general hospital located in a Thai-Myanmar border area. Between May and October 2007, a community outbreak of cholera with 477 cases took place in Mae Sot District, Tak Province. A 71-year-old diabetic female who had undergone craniotomy following intracerebral hemorrhage contracted nosocomial cholera with mild diarrhea on August 6, 2007, 37 days after admission in a female ward of the Mae Sot hospital. She received a nasogastric tube-fed diet four times a day. The investigation suggested that the tube-fed diet might have been contaminated with V. cholerae O1 directly from an infected caretaker. This caretaker was culture-positive for cholera of the same biotype, serotype, and antibiograms. The present report indicates that during a community outbreak of cholera, nosocomial infection can occur in the hospital. Thus, a program of nosocomial infection control is essential in the hospital.
Swaddiwudhipong
Witaya
W
Department of Community and Social Medicine, Mae Sot General Hospital, Tak, Thailand. swaddi@hotmail.com
Peanumlom
Pongpot
P
D000368:Aged; D002771:Cholera / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient; D002052:Myanmar; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000302:isolation & purification*