Summary Legionnaires' disease is an important cause of community-acquired and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Although uncommon, Legionnaires' disease continues to cause disease outbreaks of public ...health significance. The disease is caused by any species of the Gram-negative aerobic bacteria belonging to the genus Legionella ; Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 is the causative agent of most cases in Europe. In this Review we outline the global epidemiology of Legionnaires' disease, summarise its diagnosis and management, and identify research gaps and priorities. Early clinical diagnosis and prompt initiation of appropriate antibiotics for Legionella spp in all patients with community-acquired or hospital-acquired pneumonias is a crucial measure for management of the disease. Progress in typing and sequencing technologies might additionally contribute to understanding the distribution and natural history of Legionnaires' disease, and inform outbreak investigations. Control of Legionnaires' disease outbreaks relies on rapid ascertainment of descriptive epidemiological data, combined with microbiological information to identify the source and implement control measures. Further research is required to define the actual burden of disease, factors that influence susceptibility, key sources of infection, and differences in virulence between strains of Legionella species. Other requirements are improved, specific, sensitive, and rapid diagnostic tests to accurately inform management of Legionnaires' disease, and controlled clinical trials to ascertain the optimum antibiotics for treatment.
In September 2018, monkeypox virus was transmitted from a patient to a healthcare worker in the United Kingdom. Transmission was probably through contact with contaminated bedding. Infection control ...precautions for contacts (vaccination, daily monitoring, staying home from work) were implemented. Of 134 potential contacts, 4 became ill; all patients survived.
In early September 2018, two cases of monkeypox were reported in the United Kingdom (UK), diagnosed on 7 September in Cornwall (South West England) and 11 September in Blackpool (North West England). ...The cases were epidemiologically unconnected and had recently travelled to the UK from Nigeria, where monkeypox is currently circulating. We describe the epidemiology and the public health response for the first diagnosed cases outside the African continent since 2003.
After an increase in the number of reported cases of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in England, we investigated data from 2000-2010 to verify the increase. We analyzed national databases for ...microbiological and clinical diagnoses of P. jirovecii pneumonia and associated deaths. We found that laboratory-confirmed cases in England had increased an average of 7% per year and that death certifications and hospital admissions also increased. Hospital admissions indicated increased P. jirovecii pneumonia diagnoses among patients not infected with HIV, particularly among those who had received a transplant or had a hematologic malignancy. A new risk was identified: preexisting lung disease. Infection rates among HIV-positive adults decreased. The results confirm that diagnoses of potentially preventable P. jirovecii pneumonia among persons outside the known risk group of persons with HIV infection have increased. This finding warrants further characterization of risk groups and a review of P. jirovecii pneumonia prevention strategies.
To the Editor: In their recent assessment of Mycobacterium chimaera risk in patients undergoing heart valve surgery, Sommerstein et al. compare their findings to our prior risk assessment for UK ...patients (1,2). ...Sommerstein et al. calculated crude risk based on annual procedure numbers. Since our published assessment was undertaken some years before the authors’ assessment, additional cases have been diagnosed, in keeping with the long incubation period for these infections, a median of 15 months but up to 5 years (3). Information for healthcare providers in the UK. 2017 cited 2018 Mar 13. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infections-associated-with-heater-cooler-units-used-in-cardiopulmonary-bypass-and-ecmo Theresa L. Lamagni , André Charlett, Nick Phin, Maria Zambon, and Meera Chand Public Health England, London, UK (T.L. Lamagni, A. Charlett, N. Phin, M. Zambon, M. Chand); Imperial College, London (M. Zambon, M. Chand); Guy’s & St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London (M. Chand)
•In August 2020, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 occurred in the United Kingdom.•Whole genome sequencing revealed that 36 cases formed a genetically distinct ...cluster.•Epidemiological evidence suggested a fast-food product was a likely cause of this outbreak.
In August 2020, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 occurred in the United Kingdom. Whole genome sequencing revealed that these cases formed a genetically distinct cluster.
Hypotheses generated from case interviews were tested in analytical studies, and results informed environmental sampling and food chain analysis. A case–case study used non-outbreak ‘comparison’ STEC cases; a case–control study used a market research panel to recruit controls.
A total of 36 cases were identified; all cases reported symptom onset between August 3 and August 16, 2020. The majority of cases (83%) resided in the Midlands region of England and in Wales. A high proportion of cases reported eating out, with one fast-food restaurant chain mentioned by 64% (n = 23) of cases. Both the case–case study (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 31.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6–624.9) and the case–control study (aOR 9.19, 95% CI 1.0–82.8) revealed statistically significant results, showing that the consumption of a specific fast-food product was independently associated with infection.
Consumption of a specific fast-food product was a likely cause of this outbreak. The only ingredient specific to the product was cucumbers. The supply of cucumbers was immediately halted, and no further cases have been identified.
Oseltamivir has been widely used for pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection, and by April 30, 2010, a total of 285 resistant cases were reported worldwide, including 45 in the United Kingdom. To ...determine risk factors for emergence of oseltamivir resistance and severe infection, a case-control study was conducted in the United Kingdom. Study participants were hospitalized in England or Scotland during January 4, 2009-April 30, 2010. Controls had confirmed oseltamivir-sensitive pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infections, and case-patients had confirmed oseltamivir-resistant infections. Of 28 case-patients with available information, 21 (75%) were immunocompromised; 31 of 33 case-patients (94%) received antiviral drugs before a sample was obtained. After adjusting for confounders, case-patients remained significantly more likely than controls to be immunocompromised and at higher risk for showing development of respiratory complications. Selective drug pressure likely explains the development of oseltamivir resistance, especially among immunocompromised patients. Monitoring of antiviral resistance is strongly recommended in this group.
Mycobacterium abscessus has emerged as a significant clinical concern following reports that it is readily transmissible in health-care settings between patients with cystic fibrosis. We linked ...routinely collected whole-genome sequencing and health-care usage data with the aim of investigating the extent to which such transmission explains acquisition in patients with and without cystic fibrosis in England.
In this retrospective observational study, we analysed consecutive M abscessus whole-genome sequencing data from England (beginning of February, 2015, to Nov 14, 2019) to identify genomically similar isolates. Linkage to a national health-care usage database was used to investigate possible contacts between patients. Multivariable regression analysis was done to investigate factors associated with acquisition of a genomically clustered strain (genomic distance <25 single nucleotide polymorphisms SNPs).
2297 isolates from 906 patients underwent whole-genome sequencing as part of the routine Public Health England diagnostic service. Of 14 genomic clusters containing isolates from ten or more patients, all but one contained patients with cystic fibrosis and patients without cystic fibrosis. Patients with cystic fibrosis were equally likely to have clustered isolates (258 60% of 431 patients) as those without cystic fibrosis (322 63% of 513 patients; p=0·38). High-density phylogenetic clusters were randomly distributed over a wide geographical area. Most isolates with a closest genetic neighbour consistent with potential transmission had no identifiable relevant epidemiological contacts. Having a clustered isolate was independently associated with increasing age (adjusted odds ratio 1·14 per 10 years, 95% CI 1·04–1·26), but not time spent as an hospital inpatient or outpatient. We identified two sibling pairs with cystic fibrosis with genetically highly divergent isolates and one pair with closely related isolates, and 25 uninfected presumed household contacts with cystic fibrosis.
Previously identified widely disseminated dominant clones of M abscessus are not restricted to patients with cystic fibrosis and occur in other chronic respiratory diseases. Although our analysis showed a small number of cases where person-to-person transmission could not be excluded, it did not support this being a major mechanism for M abscessus dissemination at a national level in England. Overall, these data should reassure patients and clinicians that the risk of acquisition from other patients in health-care settings is relatively low and motivate future research efforts to focus on identifying routes of acquisition outside of the cystic fibrosis health-care-associated niche.
The National Institute for Health Research, Health Data Research UK, The Wellcome Trust, The Medical Research Council, and Public Health England.
In low-incidence countries, tuberculosis mainly affects migrants, mostly resulting from reactivation of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) acquired in high-incidence countries before migration. A ...nationwide primary care-based LTBI testing and treatment programme for migrants from high-incidence countries was therefore established in high tuberculosis incidence areas in England. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of this programme.
We did a retrospective, population-based cohort study of migrants who registered in primary care between Jan 1, 2011, and Dec 31, 2018, in 55 high-burden areas with programmatic LTBI testing and treatment. Eligible individuals were aged 16–35 years, born in a high-incidence country, and had entered England in the past 5 years. Individuals who tested interferon-γ release assay (IGRA)-negative were advised about symptoms of tuberculosis, whereas those who tested IGRA-positive were clinically assessed to rule out active tuberculosis and offered preventive therapy. The primary outcome was incident tuberculosis notified to the national Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance system.
Our cohort comprised 368 097 eligible individuals who had registered in primary care, of whom 37 268 (10·1%) were tested by the programme. 1446 incident cases of tuberculosis were identified: 166 cases in individuals who had IGRA testing (incidence 204 cases 95% CI 176–238 per 100 000 person-years) and 1280 in individuals without IGRA testing (82 cases 77–86 per 100 000 person-years). Overall, in our primary analysis including all diagnosed tuberculosis cases, a time-varying association was identified between LTBI testing and treatment and lower risk of incident tuberculosis (hazard ratio HR 0·76 95% CI 0·63–0·91) when compared with no testing. In stratified analysis by follow-up period, the intervention was associated with higher risk of tuberculosis diagnosis during the first 6 months of follow-up (9·93 7·63–12·9) and a lower risk after 6 months (0·57 0·41–0·79). IGRA-positive individuals had higher risk of tuberculosis diagnosis than IGRA-negative individuals (31·9 20·4–49·8). Of 37 268 migrants who were tested, 6640 (17·8%) were IGRA-positive, of whom 1740 (26·2%) started preventive treatment. LTBI treatment lowered the risk of tuberculosis: of 135 incident cases in the IGRA-positive cohort, seven cases were diagnosed in the treated group (1·87 cases 95% CI 0·89–3·93 per 1000 person-years) and 128 cases were diagnosed in the untreated group (10·9 cases 9·16–12·9 per 1000 person-years; HR 0·14 95% CI 0·06–0·32).
A low proportion of eligible migrants were tested by the programme and a small proportion of those testing positive started treatment. Despite this, programmatic LTBI testing and treatment of individuals migrating to a low-incidence region is effective at diagnosing active tuberculosis earlier and lowers the long-term risk of progression to tuberculosis. Increasing programme participation and treatment rates for those testing positive could substantially impact national tuberculosis incidence.
National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Respiratory Infections.
Abstract Introduction Mass gatherings (MG) may provide ideal conditions for influenza transmission. The evidence for an association between MG and influenza transmission is reviewed to assess whether ...restricting MG may reduce transmission. Methods Major databases were searched (Pubmed, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL), producing 1706 articles that were sifted by title, abstract, and full-text. A narrative approach was adopted for data synthesis. Results Twenty-four papers met the inclusion criteria, covering MG of varying sizes and settings, and including 9 observational studies, 10 outbreak reports, 4 event reports, and a quasi-experimental study. There is some evidence that certain types of MG may be associated with increased risk of influenza transmission. MG may also “seed” new strains into an area, and may instigate community transmission in a pandemic. Restricting MGs, in combination with other social distancing interventions, may help reduce transmission, but it was not possible to identify conclusive evidence on the individual effect of MG restriction alone. Evidence suggests that event duration and crowdedness may be the key factors that determine the risk of influenza transmission, and possibly the type of venue (indoor/outdoor). Conclusion These factors potentially represent a basis for a policy-making framework for MG restrictions in the event of a severe pandemic.
PDF
