EHEC outbreak among staff at a children's hospital--use of PCR for verocytotoxin detection and PFGE for epidemiological investigation.

• This is the first report of a major foodborne outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in Sweden. It occurred among the nursing staff at a children's hospital with approximately 1600 employees. Contaminated lettuce was the most likely source of infection. Nine persons were culture-positive for Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 and verocytotoxin-positive by PCR and a further two were verocytotoxin-positive by PCR only. All 11 EHEC-positive individuals had attended a party for approximately 250 staff members, which was held at the hospital. In a questionnaire 37 persons stated that they had symptoms consistent with EHEC infection during the weeks after the party. There was no evidence of secondary transmission from staff to patients. The value of PCR as a sensitive and fast method for diagnosis is discussed in this paper. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to ascertain that staff members were infected by the same clone, and that two patients with E. coli O157 infection were not.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Microbiology in the medical area (hsv//eng)

Keyword

DNA

Bacterial

analysis

genetics

Disease Outbreaks

prevention & control

statistics & numerical data

Electrophoresis

Gel

Pulsed-Field

methods

standards

Epidemiologic Methods

Escherichia coli Infections

diagnosis

epidemiology

microbiology

prevention & control

transmission

Escherichia coli O157

classification

genetics

Feces

microbiology

Food Microbiology

Foodborne Diseases

diagnosis

epidemiology

microbiology

Hospitals

Pediatric

Humans

Infection Control

methods

Lettuce

microbiology

Mass Screening

methods

Occupational Diseases

diagnosis

epidemiology

microbiology

prevention & control

Occupational Health

Personnel

Hospital

statistics & numerical data

Polymerase Chain Reaction

methods

standards

Sensitivity and Specificity

Serotyping

Shiga Toxin 1

genetics

Shiga Toxin 2

genetics

Sweden

epidemiology

Time Factors

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)