A Major Epidemic of Infectious Hepatitis in an Institution for the Mentally Retarded1

Prevalence of antibody to the hepatitis A virus in a large institution for the mentally retarded

“…Our findings are remarkably similar to those reported by Szmuness et al, 1977b, in the Suffolk Development Clinic in New York but are in contrast with the findings at the Wassaic School for the mentally retarded and the Lynchburg Training School (Matthew et al, 1973) in Virginia, both of which contained large numbers of seronegative children and in both of which large epidemics of hepatitis occurred.…”

“…Infection with HAV is more common in the institution than in the general commu- The epidemiology of hepatitis A in large institutions for the mentally retarded is affected by a number of factors, including the size of the institution, the number of subjects admitted each year, and the prevalence of anti-HAV. Our findings are remarkably similar to those reported by Szmuness et al, 1977b, in the Suffolk Development Clinic in New York but are in contrast with the findings at the Wassaic School for the mentally retarded and the Lynchburg Training School (Matthew et al, 1973) in Virginia, both of which contained large numbers of seronegative children and in both of which large epidemics of hepatitis occurred.…”

“…While the epidemiology of hepatitis A has been less thoroughly studied (because of the absence of reliable techniques for detecting infection with the virus), the disease is also known to occur and several outbreaks have been recorded (Ward et al, 1958;Matthew et al, 1973). With the recent development of techniques such as immune adherence hemagglutination (IAHA) (Miller et al, 1975) and solid-phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA) (Purcell et al, 1976) for the detection of specific antibody to the hepatitis A virus (HAV) it has become possible to study the epidemiology of this disease in a variety of settings.…”

“…Acute viral hepatitis has long been recognized as a major problem in establishments for the mentally retarded (Ward et al, 1958) and at least one form, hepatitis B, has been found to be endemic in many large institutions (Sutnick et al, 1968;Szmuness, Pick, and Prince, 1970;Ferris et al, 1971;Nordenfelt et al, 1971;Perry et al, 1975). While the epidemiology of hepatitis A has been less thoroughly studied (because of the absence of reliable techniques for detecting infection with the virus), the disease is also known to occur and several outbreaks have been recorded (Ward et al, 1958;Matthew et al, 1973). With the recent development of techniques such as immune adherence hemagglutination (IAHA) (Miller et al, 1975) and solid-phase radioimmunoassay (SPRIA) (Purcell et al, 1976) for the detection of specific antibody to the hepatitis A virus (HAV) it has become possible to study the epidemiology of this disease in a variety of settings.…”

Rapid and accurate viral diagnosis

“…In-hospital transmission of numerous virus infections has been documented. These include influenza (Blumenfeld et al, 1959), respiratory syncytial (Hall et al, 1975), parainfluenza (Mufson et al, 1973), enteroviruses (Gear and Measroch, 1973), rotaviruses (Ryder et al, 1977), varicella-zoster (Meyers et al, 1979), herpes simplex (Linneman et al, 1978), hepatitis viruses (Matthew et al, 1973;Postic et al, 1978), rubella (Carne et al, 1973), and adenoviruses (Barret al, 1958). The newborn infant and the compromised host suffer the most serious consequences.…”