Spread of flu virus in hospital environment common

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
University of Gothenburg
Summary:
One in four inpatients with influenza in a given season showed
signs of having become infected during care.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
One in four inpatients with influenza in a given season showed signs
of having become infected during care. This is clear from a University
of Gothenburg thesis about the spread of influenza in hospitals and how
this problem can be remedied.


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One of the studies in the thesis is based on a review of the medical
records of all 435 hospitalized adult patients at Sahlgrenska University Hospital who had laboratory-confirmed influenza (flu) during the
2016-2017 season.

Of these patients, 114 cases (26 percent) were classified as healthcare- associated. These patients had been admitted for other reason, and the
onset of their flu symptoms did not take place until 48 hours or more
after admission.

A detailed genetic analysis of virus samples was also performed. This
analysis showed a close genetic relationship between flu viruses in
samples taken from patents staying in the same ward within a single week.

"Besides the association in time and space, a kind of DNA evidence,
like from a crime scene, was used. Overall, teher's strong support for transmission of infection within the hospital," says Martina Sansone, PhD
a recent PhD graduate at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg,
and a consultant in infectious diseases and hospital hygiene at
Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

"The proportion who became infected within the hospital was even
higher than I thought it would be -- and after all, this is my job,"
she continues. "This research area isn't especially well explored."
Twenty-six people in the study group died. The majority were older
patients with cardiac or pulmonary diseases, and the seasonal flu of
2016-2017 was considered relatively severe.



========================================================================== Based on her doctoral studies in their entirety -- including a flu
outbreak at Kunga"lv Hospital -- Sansone concludes that transmission of influenza in hospital wards is common.

The shortage of beds is identified as a key factor in the context. The
lack of single rooms also leads to more transfers of patients within a
hospital and this, in turn, can add to the spread of infection.

"There has been an exaggerated focus on measurable lead times in the
emergency room, and on cutting wait times. Sometimes the decision to hospitalize a patient is taken too quickly, before the diagnosis is
complete and the risk of a person being infectious is known to exist. I
also think the staff sometimes finds it hard to grasp the fact that one
patient can represent a danger to another." The parallels with COVID-19
are obvious, Sansone thinks. Respiratory tract symptoms are common and
may be mild. In the flu season too, planned care may be postponed and
patients need to be kept isolated in the hospital environment.

"In Sweden our hospitals have been extremely open, to family members
as well as others, with lots of people coming and going. Why not have
separate flu wards, in the same way as we have COVID-19 wards?" she
wonders.

"The crucial needs are for us to reduce numbers of contacts, carry out
prompt flu testing in the emergency room, and increase the vaccination
rates. Today, around 50 percent of the elderly population in Sweden are vaccinated against the seasonal flu, well below the WHO target of 75
percent," Sansone says.

Title: Epidemiology of viral respiratory infections with focus on
in-hospital influenza transmission; http://hdl.handle.net/2077/63619

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Gothenburg. Original
written by Margareta Gustafsson Kubista. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


==========================================================================


Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715111433.htm

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