Unraveling a Nosocomial Outbreak of COVID-19: The Role of Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses many epidemiological challenges. The investigation of nosocomial transmission is usually performed via thorough investigation of an index case and subsequent contact tracing. Notably, this approach has a subjective component, and there is accumulating evidence that whole-genome sequencing of the virus may provide more objective insight.

Methods

We report a large nosocomial outbreak in 1 of the medicine departments in our institution. Following intensive epidemiological investigation, we discovered that 1 of the patients involved was suffering from persistent COVID-19 while initially thought to be a recovering patient. She was therefore deemed to be the most likely source of the outbreak. We then performed whol

SUBMITTER: Meijer SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7989189 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature