RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: To assess extent of a healthcare-associated outbreak of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and to evaluate the effectiveness of infection control measures, including universal masking. DESIGN: Outbreak investigation including 4 large-scale point-prevalence surveys. SETTING: Integrated VA healthcare system with 2 facilities and 330 beds. PARTICIPANTS: Index patient and 250 exposed patients and staff. METHODS: We identified exposed patients and staff and classified them as probable and confirmed cases based on symptoms and testing. We performed a field investigation and an assessment of patient and staff interactions to develop probable transmission routes. Infection prevention interventions included droplet and contact precautions, employee quarantine, and universal masking with medical and cloth face masks. We conducted 4 point-prevalence surveys of patient and staff subsets using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Among 250 potentially exposed patients and staff, 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were identified. Patient roommates and staff with prolonged patient contact were most likely to be infected. The last potential date of transmission from staff to patient was day 22, the day universal masking was implemented. Subsequent point-prevalence surveys in 126 patients and 234 staff identified 0 patient cases and 5 staff cases of COVID-19, without evidence of healthcare-associated transmission. CONCLUSIONS: Universal masking with medical face masks was effective in preventing further spread of SARS-CoV-2 in our facility in conjunction with other traditional infection prevention measures.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/prevención & control , Atención a la Salud , Humanos , Control de Infecciones , CuarentenaRESUMEN
The aim of this research was to determine the species of intestinal parasite present in a Roman Imperial period population in Asia Minor, and to use this information to improve our understanding of health in the eastern Mediterranean region in Roman times. We analyzed five samples from the latrines of the Roman bath complex at Sagalassos, Turkey. Fecal biomarker analysis using 5ß-stanols has indicated the feces were of human origin. The eggs of roundworm (Ascaris) were identified in all five samples using microscopy, and the cysts of the protozoan Giardia duodenalis (which causes dysentery) were identified multiple times in one sample using ELISA. The positive G. duodenalis result at Sagalassos is particularly important as it represents the earliest reliable evidence for this parasite in the Old World (i.e. outside the Americas). As both these species of parasite are spread through the contamination of food and water by fecal material, their presence implies that Roman sanitation technologies such as latrines and public baths did not break the cycle of reinfection in this population. We then discuss the evidence for roundworm in the writings of the Roman physician Galen, who came from Pergamon, another town in western Asia Minor.