Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
1989
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The New England Journal of Medicine
Volume
321
Issue
19
First Page
1290
Last Page
1296
DOI of Original Publication
10.1056/NEJM198911093211903
Date of Submission
January 2015
Abstract
Abstract
To determine whether day-care workers acquire cytomegalovirus infection from the children they care for, we studied 610 women employed at 34 day-care centers over two years.
Forty-one percent of the caretakers were seropositive for cytomegalovirus. After adjustment for the effects of race, marital status, and age on seropositivity, the women who cared for children younger than two years of age had a significantly higher seropositivity rate (46 percent) than the women who cared for children older than two years of age (35 percent) (relative risk, 1.29; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.05 to 1.57; P<0.02).
Of 202 initially seronegative caretakers (observed for an average of 305 days per woman), 19 seroconverted, for an annual seroconversion rate of 11 percent. This rate was significantly higher than the 2 percent annual rate of seroconversion among 229 seronegative women (11 of whom seroconverted) in a comparison group of female hospital employees observed for an average of 781 days per woman (relative risk, 5.0; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.4 to 10.5; P
We conclude that workers in day-care centers may acquire cytomegalovirus infection from the children in their care and that this risk is significantly greater among those who care for children less than two years of age. (N Engl J Med 1989;321:1290–6.)
Rights
From The New England Journal of Medicine, Adler, S.P., Cytomegalovirus and Child Day Care, Vol. 321, Page 1290, Copyright © 1989 Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission.
Is Part Of
VCU Internal Medicine Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198911093211903