Seropositivity for Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus among Frontline Health Care Personnel

Kumar Alagappan, Robert A. Silverman

, Kathy Hancock, Mary Frances Ward, Meredith Akerman, Fatimah S. Dawood, Alicia Branch, Sandra De Cicco, Evelene Steward-Clark, Megan McCullough, Karen Tenner, and Jacqueline M. Katz

Author affiliations: North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System, New Hyde Park, New York, USA (K. Alagappan, R.A. Silverman, M.F. Ward, S. De Cicco, M. McCullough, K. Tenner); Hofstra North Shore–Long Island Jewish School of Medicine, Hempstead, New York, USA (K. Alagappan, R.A. Silverman, M.F. Ward); Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA (K. Alagappan, R.A. Silverman); Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York, USA (K. Alagappan, R.A. Silverman, M.F Ward, M. Akerman); and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (K. Hancock, F.S. Dawood, A. Branch, E. Steward-Clark, J.M. Katz)

Abstract

Seroprevalence of antibodies to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus among 193 emergency department health care personnel was similar among 147 non–health care personnel (odds ratio 1.4, 95% CI 0.8–2.4). Working in an acute care setting did not substantially increase risk for virus infection above risk conferred by community-based exposures.

Transmission of infectious disease from acutely ill patients to health care personnel (HCP) is a critical concern during disease outbreaks. During the initial months after the emergence of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus, comparisons to prior pandemic viruses (1) and reports of increased illness and death in younger adults (2,3) heightened concerns about the safety of frontline HCP caring for patients with A(H1N1)pdm09 and the ability of the health care system to meet demands for health care services if infected HCP had to stay home from work.
New York, New York, was one of the first densely populated areas in the United States to experience outbreaks of A(H1N1)pdm09. These early outbreaks and the concomitant surge in patient volumes in our emergency department (ED) provided the opportunity to evaluate and compare risk for A(H1N1)pdm09 virus infection among frontline HCP and non-HCP from the same community in a virus-naive population before availability of the A(H1N1)pdm09 monovalent vaccine.