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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
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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

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