Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was notified of an outbreak of conjunctivitis in city A with cultures positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae. METHODS: MDH staff contacted clinics and schools in city A and city B regarding conjunctivitis cases, reviewed clinical findings of conjunctivitis cases in city A and collected isolates for subtyping. RESULTS: Between September 1 and December 12, 2003, cities A and B reported 735 conjunctivitis cases. Fifty-one percent of the cases were reported from schools, childcare centers and colleges. Adults were more likely to report itching, burning or swelling of the eye(s); children were more likely to report crusty eyes (P < 0.05). Forty-nine percent of conjunctival cultures (71 of 144) were positive for S. pneumoniae. All isolates were nontypeable by serotyping. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis identified 3 clonal groups with 84% of isolates belonging to one clonal group. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that isolates had the same multilocus sequence type as isolates from a 2002 outbreak at a New England college. CONCLUSIONS: This outbreak was widespread in the community and conjunctivitis clinical presentation varied by age. The predominant strains in this outbreak were related to a pneumococcal strain implicated in prior conjunctivitis outbreaks, suggesting these strains have a predilection for causing conjunctivitis.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 906-911 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2006 |
Keywords
- Conjunctivitis
- Disease outbreak
- Streptococcus pneumoniae