Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T09:08:23.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Prevalence of Cytomegalovirus Antibody in Nursing Personnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Jane A. Lipscomb*
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Calvin C. Linnemann Jr.
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pei Fung Hurst
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Martin G. Myers
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
William Stringer
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Peggy Moore
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Jean Hammond
Affiliation:
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation, and Field Studies, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, and Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the Division of Infectious Disease, and Infection Control, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
*
UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Abstract

To evaluate the risk to nurses of childbearing age of acquiring cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during the care of patients at high risk of the infection, 374 female hospital employees (288 nursing personnel) were interviewed and screened for antibody to CMV. Fifty-six percent of the population surveyed had antibody to CMV as measured by an immunofluorescent assay. Among nursing personnel, analysis of antibody prevalence by job title, work area, and duration of work showed no association between seropositivity and either current or past exposure to “high-risk” patients, such as infants and immunosuppressed individuals. Age, race (non-white), and the number of pregnancies reported by participants were significantly associated with the presence of antibody. Among 73 employees of a children's hospital, the prevalence of CMV antibody was 41%. This survey suggests that hospital nursing is not a major risk factor for acquiring CMV infection. However, this finding needs further evaluation in a prospective study of seroconversion rates among seronegative nurses.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1984

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.Krech, U, Tobin, J: A collaborative study of cytomegalovirus antibodies in mothers and young children in 19 countries. Bull WHO 1981;59:605610.Google Scholar
2.Duvall, CP, Casazza, AR, Grimley, PM, et al: Recovery of cytomegalovirus from adults with neoplastic disease. Ann Intern Med 1966;64:531541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Numazaki, Y, Namio, Y, Marizuka, T, et al: Primary infection with human cytomegalovirus: Virus isolation from healthy infants and pregnant women. Am J Epidemiol 1969;91:410417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Lang, DJ: Cytomegalovirus infection in organ transplantation and post transfusion. Arch Gesamte Virusforsch 1972;37:365377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Linnemann, CC, MacMillan, BG: Viral infections in pediatric burn patients. Am J Dis Child 1981;135:750753.Google ScholarPubMed
6.Statistical Analyses System (SAS) User's Guide. Cory, NC, SAS Institute Inc, 1981.Google Scholar
7.Palacios, O, Cabau, N, Horaud, F, et al: Serologic survey of antibodies to cytomegalovirus in women and infants in Lima, Peru. J Infect Dis 1983;147:777.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Stagno, S, Reynolds, DW, Huang, E, et al: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection, occurrence in an immune population. N Engl J Med 1977;296:12541257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Dworsky, ME, Welch, K, Cassady, G, et al: Occupational risk for primary cytomegalovirus infection among pediatric health-care workers. N Engl J Med 1983;309:950953.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Carlstrom, G, Jalling, B: Cytomegalovirus infections in different groups of pediatric patients. Acta Paediatr Scand 1970;59:303309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Stern, H, Elek, SD: The incidence of infection with CMV in a normal population. J Hyg 1965; 63:7987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Wentworth, BB, Alexander, ER: Seroepidemiology of infections due to members of the herpesvirus group. Am J Epidemiol 1971;94:496507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Rowe, WP, Hartley, JW, Waterman, S, et al: Cytopathogenic agent resembling human salivary gland virus recovered from tissue cultures of human adenoids. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1956;92:418424.Google ScholarPubMed
14.Lang, DJ: Cytomegalovirus immunization: Status, prospects, and problems. Rev Infect Dis 1980;2:449458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Browne, K, Rosenberg, G: Risk of cytomegalovirus exposure to staff in a preschool for the retarded. Journal of Indiana State Medical Association 1979; XX:418420.Google Scholar
16.Yeager, AS: Longitudinal, serological study of cytomegalovirus infections in nurses and in personnel without patient contact. J Clin Microbiol 1975;2:448452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Ahlfors, K, Ivarsson, SA, Johnsson, T, et al: Risk of cytomegalovirus infections in nurses and congenital infections in their offspring. Acta Paediatr Scand 1981;70:819823.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Haneberg, B, Bertnes, E, Haukenes, G: Antibodies to cytomegalovirus among personnel at a children's hospital. Acta Paediatr Scand 1980;69:407409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Tolkoff-Rubin, NE, Rubin, RH, Keller, EE, et al: Cytomegalovirus infection in dialysis patients and personnel. Ann Intern Med 1978;89:625628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed