Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:24:25.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Serial Nosocomial Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria From Patient to Nurse to Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Richard L. Alweis ,
Kerrie DiRosario ,
Giuseppe Conidi ,
Kevin C. Kain ,
Richard Olans  and
John L. Tully
Richard L. Alweis*
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infection Control
Kerrie DiRosario
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infection Control
Giuseppe Conidi
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Immunization, Boston, Massachusetts
Kevin C. Kain
Affiliation:
Tropical Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, Toronto General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Richard Olans
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Hallmark Health Care, Melrose, Massachusetts
John L. Tully
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Mount Auburn Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
*
22 Mill Street, Suite 208, Arlington, MA 02476
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Nosocomial transmission of malaria is a rare phenomenon in the United States.

Objective:

To describe the probable transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria from a patient to a healthcare worker and then from the healthcare worker to another patient.

Design:

Case series.

Setting:

Two community hospitals in Massachusetts.

Intervention:

Routine medical and supportive care.

Measurements:

Clinical and laboratory evaluation.

Results:

A nurse developed falciparum malaria after a needlestick injury from a patient with documented falciparum malaria. Three days prior to her diagnosis, she cared for another patient, who subsequently developed falciparum malaria. That patient's parasite isolate genetically matched the nurse's isolate by two independent DNA fingerprinting techniques.

Conclusion:

After extensive evaluation, we believe that a nurse who had acquired falciparum malaria via needlestick subsequently transmitted malaria to another patient via a break in standard precautions. The implications of this mechanism of transmission are discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 55 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Kleinman, S, Lugo, J, Litty, C, et al.Transfusion-transmitted malaria: Missouri and Pennsylvania, 1996-1998. MMWR 1999;48:253–256.Google Scholar
2.Mungai, M, Tegtmeier, G, Chamberland, M, Panse, M. Transfusion-transmitted malaria in the United States from 1963 through 1999. N Engl J Med 2001;344:1973–1978.Google Scholar
3.Lettau, LA. Nosocomial transmission and infection control aspects of parasitic and ectoparasitic diseases: Part II. Blood and tissue parasites. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1991;12:111–121.Google Scholar
4.Crafa, F, Gugenheim, J, Fabiani, P, et al.Possible transmission of malaria by liver transplantation. Transplant Proc 1991;23:2664.Google Scholar
5.Babinet, J, Gay, F, Bustos, D, et al.Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum by heart transplant. BMJ 1991;303:1515–1516.Google Scholar
6.Lefrere, F, Besson, C, Datry, A, et al.Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 1996;18:473–474.Google Scholar
7.Mortimer, PP. Nosocomial malaria. Lancet 1997;349:574.Google Scholar
8.Al-Saigul, AM, Fontaine, RE, Haddad, Q. Nosocomial malaria from contamination of a multidose heparin container with blood. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2000;21:329–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Bick, RL, Anhalt, JE Jr. Malaria transmission among narcotic addicts: a report of ten cases and review of the literature. California Medicine 1971;115:56–58.Google ScholarPubMed
10.Piro, S, Sammud, M, Badi, S, Al Sabi, L. Hospital-acquired malaria transmitted by contaminated gloves. J Hosp Infect 2001;47:156–158.Google Scholar
11.Herwaldt, BL. Laboratory-acquired parasitic infections from accidentai exposures. Clin Microbiol Rev 2001;14:659–688.Google Scholar
12.Moro, ML, Romi, R, Severini, C, et al.Patient-to-patient transmission of nosocomial malaria in Italy. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2002;23:338–341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Kain, KC, Harrington, MA, Tennyson, S, Keystone, J. Imported malaria: prospective anaiysis of problems in diagnosis and management. Clin Infect Dis 1998;27:142–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Kain, KC, Craig, AA, Ohrt, C. Single-stranded conformational polymorphism anaiysis differentiates Plasmodium falciparum treatment failures from re-infections. Mol Biochem Parasitol 1996;79:167–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Ohrt, C, Mirabelli-Primdahl, L, Looareesuwan, S, Wilairatana, P, Walsh, D, Kain, KC. Determination of failure of treatment of Plasmodium falciparum infections by using polymerase chain reaction single-stranded conformational polymorphism fingerprinting. Clin Infect Dis 1999;28:847–852.Google Scholar
16.Snounou, G, Beck, HP. The use of PCR genotyping in the assessment of recrudescence or reinfection after antimalarial drug treatment. Parasitology Today 1998;14:462–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Omar, SA, Bakari, A, Owiti, A, Adagu, IS, Warhurst, DC. Co-trimoxazole compared with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Kenyan children. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2001;95:657–660.Google Scholar
18.Mutabingwa, TK, Ronn, A, Bygbjerg, IC. Chemotherapeutic efficacy of co-trimoxazole for childhood malaria in an area with multidrug resistance in Tanzania. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 1996;90:476.Google Scholar
19.Krishna, S, Davis, TM, Chan, PC, et al.Ciprofloxacin and malaria. Lancet 1988;1:1231–1232.Google Scholar
20.Midgely, JM, Keter, DW, Phillipson, JD, et al.Quinolones and multiresistant Plasmodium falciparum. Lancet 1988;2:281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Divo, AA, Sartorelli, AC, Patton, CL, et al.Activity of fluoroquinolone antibiotics against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1988;32:1182–1186.Google Scholar
22.Watt, G, Shanks, GD, Edstein, MD, et al.Ciprofloxacin treatment of drug-resistant falciparum malaria. J Infect Dis 1991;164:602–604.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Stromberg, A, Bjorkman, A. Ciprofloxacin does not achieve radical cure of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sierra Leone. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 1992;86:373.Google Scholar
24.Yeo, AK, Rieckrnann, KH. Prolonged exposure of Plasmodium falciparum to ciprofloxacin increases anti-malarial activity. J Parasitol 1994;80:158–160.Google Scholar
25.Zucker, JR. Changing patterns of autochthonous transmission in the United States: a review of recent outbreaks. Emerg Infect Dis 1996;2:37–43.Google Scholar
26.National Weather Service. National Weather Service Forecast Office: Boston, MA. Taunton, MA: National Weather Service, Boston Weather Forecast Office. Available at www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/dailystns.shtml. Accessed September 2002.Google Scholar
27.Church, LW, Le, TP, Bryan, JP, et al.Clinical manifestations of Plasmodium falciparum malaria experimentally induced by mosquito challenge. J Infect Dis 1997;175:915–920.Google Scholar
28.Kean, BH, Reilly, PC. Malaria—the mime: recent lessons from a group of civilian travelers. Am J Med 1976;61:159–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Bell, DM, Shapiro, CN, Ciesielski, CA, et al.Preventing bloodborne pathogen transmission from health-care workers to patients: the CDC perspective. Surg Clin North Am 1995;75:1189–1203.Google Scholar
30.Anonymous. Hepatitis C virus transmission from health care worker to patient. Commun Dis Rep CDR Wkly 1995;5:121.Google Scholar
31.Anonymous. First phase of group C meningococcal vaccination programme to start in November. Commun Dis Rep CDR Wkly 1999;9:387.Google Scholar
32.Esteban, Jl, Gomez, J, Martell, M, et al.Transmission of hepatitis C virus by a cardiac surgeon. N Engl J Med 1996;334:555–560.Google Scholar
33.Ross, RS, Viazov, S, Gross, T, et al.Brief report: transmission of hepatitis C virus from a patient to an anesthesiology assistant to five patients. N Engl J Med 2000;343:1851–1854.Google Scholar
34.Ciesleski, C, Marianos, D, Chin-Yih, O, et al.Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in a dental practice. Ann Intern Med 1992;116:798–805.Google Scholar
35.Lot, F, Seguier, JC, Fegueux, S, et al.Probable transmission of HIV from an orthopedie surgeon to a patient in France. Ann Intern Med 1999;130:1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36.Goujon, CP, Schneider, VM, Grofti, J, et al.Phylogenetic analyses indicate an atypical nurse-to-patient transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. J Virol 2000;74:2525–2532.Google Scholar