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Nosocomial Transmission of Hepatitis A in an Adult Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Ramona Baptiste ,
Deloris Koziol  and
David K. Henderson
Ramona Baptiste
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology Service, The Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Deloris Koziol
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology Service, The Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
David K. Henderson*
Affiliation:
Hospital Epidemiology Service, The Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
*
Hospital Epidemiologist, The Clinical Center, Building 10, Room 11N223, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Abstract

Nosocomial transmission of hepatitis A from patients to staff members is an unusual event. Recently, several cases of occupational transmission of hepatitis A to health care workers have been reported in the literature. Most of these have occurred as a result of transmission from an infected child to a staff member involved in his or her care. We report an additional case of transmission of hepatitis A from an infected adult to a staff member and review the literature regarding nosocomial hepatitis A transmission. The review emphasizes several points that nearly all instances of nosocomial transmission of hepatitis A have in common, including the role of asymptomatic infection, the timing of hospitalization, and the fact that index patients often have an underlying illness that obscures the early diagnosis of hepatitis A. In addition, several other areas of controversy with respect to hepatitis A are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 8 , Issue 9 , September 1987 , pp. 364 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1987

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