Active surveillance for acute respiratory infections among pediatric long-term care facility staff

• Published in: American journal of infection control 2020-12, Vol.48 (12), p.1474-1477
• Main Authors: Wilmont, Sibyl, Neu, Natalie, Hill-Ricciuti, Alexandra, Alba, Luis, Prill, Mila M., Whitaker, Brett, Garg, Shikha, Stone, Nimalie D., Lu, Xiaoyan, Kim, Lindsay, Gerber, Susan I., Larson, Elaine, Saiman, Lisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Bocavirus; Child; Child, Preschool; Coronavirus; Feasibility Studies; Female; Humans; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional - prevention & control; Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient - prevention & control; Influenza B; Long-Term Care; Major; Male; Middle Aged; New York City; Pilot Projects; Prospective Studies; Residential Facilities; Respiratory syncytial virus; Respiratory Tract Infections - diagnosis; Respiratory Tract Infections - transmission; Respiratory Tract Infections - virology; Rhinovirus; Sentinel Surveillance; Text Messaging; Viral shedding; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0196-6553; 1527-3296
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.06.190

•Staff at pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTCF) were responsive to electronic messages asking about acute respiratory illness symptoms.•Staff in pLTCFs had respiratory viruses detected during acute respiratory infections and while asymptomatic.•Contagious presenteeism occurred as some participants with ARIs worked while symptomatic.•Staff with ARI may pose a risk of transmitting respiratory viral infections to frail and medically complex pLTCF residents. Transmission of respiratory viruses between staff and residents of pediatric long-term care facilities (pLTCFs) can occur. We assessed the feasibility of using text or email messages to perform surveillance for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among staff. From December 7, 2016 to May 7, 2017, 50 staff participants from 2 pLTCFs received weekly text or email requests to report the presence or absence of ARI symptoms. Those who fulfilled the ARI case definition (≥2 symptoms) had respiratory specimens collected to detect viruses by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays. Pre- and postsurveillance respiratory specimens were collected to assess subclinical viral shedding. The response rate to weekly electronic messages was 93%. Twenty-one ARIs reported from 20 (40%) participants fulfilled the case definition. Respiratory viruses were detected in 29% (5/17) of specimens collected at symptom onset (influenza B, respiratory syncytial virus, coronavirus [CoV] 229E, rhinovirus [RV], and dual detection of CoV OC43 and bocavirus). Four participants had positive presurveillance (4 RV), and 6 had positive postsurveillance specimens (3 RV, 2 CoV NL63, and 1 adenovirus). Electronic messaging to conduct ARI surveillance among pLTCF staff was feasible.