Korean J healthc assoc Infect Control Prev.  2023 Jun;28(1):172-177. 10.14192/kjicp.2023.28.1.172.

An Outbreak of Campylobacter Jejuni Involving Healthcare Workers Detected by COVID-19 Healthcare Worker Symptom Surveillance

• Shi HJ
• Lee JB
• Hong S
• Eom JS
• Park Y

• KMID: 2543148
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14192/kjicp.2023.28.1.172

Abstract

We identified an outbreak of Campylobacter Jejuni enteritis through coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19), healthcare worker (HCW) symptom surveillance, which identified 15 HCWs with fever and diarrhea who were tested for COVID-19 on the same day. COVID-19 monitoring revealed that 15 employees with fever and diarrhea were tested for the virus, of whom two were hospitalized with fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Stool cultures confirmed that C. jejunii was the causative agent of gastroenteritis in these patients. An outbreak of C. jejunii among HCWs was suspected, and an epidemiological investigation was initiated. The symptomatic HCWs had consumed lunch from the same cafeteria on the same day within the incubation period. Based on the results of the epidemiological investigation, 105 out of 2,173 HCWs (11 HCWs who had A-type lunch and 94 who had B-type lunch) reported symptoms of gastroenteritis, with an incidence of 4.8%. Meal B, specifically the pork dumpling, was presumed to have been contaminated. We identified a Campylobacter outbreak among HCWs through a COVID-19 HCW surveillance system. Moreover, the outbreak was first recognized through the COVID-19 HCW surveillance system. Improvements in food storage and cultural methods of food preservation are required. Increasing awareness among HCWs of the possibility of contracting various diseases other than COVID-19 when treating patients with fever is critical to the early recognition of outbreaks and prevention of missing an outbreak.

Keyword

Outbreak in healthcare workers; Campylobacter Jejuni; Enteritis; Prevention and control; COVID-19 HCW symptom surveillance

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Epidemic curve for symptomatic employees who consumed meal B (n=94).

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