title: Parechovirus Genotype 3 Outbreak among Infants, New South Wales, Australia, 2013-2014.
abstract: From October 2013 through February 2014, human parechovirus genotype 3 infection was identified in 183 infants in New South Wales, Australia. Of those infants, 57% were male and 95% required hospitalization. Common signs and symptoms were fever >38°C (86%), irritability (80%), tachycardia (68%), and rash (62%). Compared with affected infants in the Northern Hemisphere, infants in New South Wales were slightly older, both sexes were affected more equally, and rash occurred with considerably higher frequency. The New South Wales syndromic surveillance system, which uses near real-time emergency department and ambulance data, was useful for monitoring the outbreak. An alert distributed to clinicians reduced unnecessary hospitalization for patients with suspected sepsis.
authors.forename: Germaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: Ameneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khatami
authors.forename: Brendan J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McMullan
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Musto
authors.forename: Kit
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Oanh
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ferson
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papadakis
authors.forename: Vicky
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sheppeard
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D030061:Parechovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology
keywords: Australia; New South Wales; human parechovirus 3; infantile fever; neonatal infection; piconarvirus; public health surveillance; sepsis-like syndrome; skin rash; viruses