Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Andrew GenneryORCiD, Professor Andrew Cant, Dr Angela Galloway
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
An outbreak of astrovirus gastroenteritis occurred in the Primary Immunodeficiency Unit at Newcastle General Hospital in March 2004. Environmental swabbing of the unit was undertaken after the outbreak, with multiple sites swabbed pre- and postcleaning. Astroviruses were detected in four environmental swabs and from two patient fecal samples using heminested reverse transcriptase PCR. An astrovirus genotype 3 strain was identified in both environmental swabs and fecal specimens and was the strain identified as being responsible for the outbreak. Environmental transmission of the virus was thought to have occurred by contamination of a syringe pump outside the laminar-flow curtain of a patient who was admitted with astrovirus gastroenteritis. This was subsequently transmitted to a cubicle next door and to a television/games console in a parents' room in the ward. Environmental monitoring of surfaces/equipment, using PCR assays for gastroenteric viruses in hospital situations where infection can give rise to serious clinical complications, may have a role in controlling and monitoring cleaning and the subsequent prevention of nosocomial transmission of gastroenteritis. Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Author(s): Gallimore CI, Taylor C, Gennery AR, Cant AJ, Galloway A, Lewis D, Gray JJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Year: 2005
Volume: 43
Issue: 8
Pages: 3890-3894
Print publication date: 01/08/2005
ISSN (print): 0095-1137
ISSN (electronic): 1070-633X
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.43.8.3890-3894.2005
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.43.8.3890-3894.2005
PubMed id: 16081927
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
