Super-spreader

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
9th floor layout of the Hotel Metropole in Hong Kong, showing where a super-spreading event of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred

The term Super-spreader refers to a person who infects disproportionally more secondary contacts than others infected with the same virus or bacteria. In the absence of super-spreaders, most individuals infect very few secondary contacts and studies have shown that individuals within a population have equal chances of transmitting any given infection to others. However, in what is known as the 20/80 rule, a small percentage of individuals in any given population, control the spread of infection. Super-spreading events are shaped by multiple factors including nosocomial infections, virulence, viral load, misdiagnosis, airflow dynamics, immune suppression, and co-infection with another pathogen.[1]

Super-spreaders during SARS outbreak

An example of a super-spreader can be seen during the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003. The disease spread in Hong Kong from a mainland doctor who arrived in February, 2003 and stayed on the ninth floor of the Metropole Hotel in Kowloon, infecting 16 of the hotel visitors. Those visitors traveled to Canada, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam, spreading SARS to those locations.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Richard A. Stein. Superspreaders in Infectious Disease. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Volume 15. Issue 8. 510-513. August, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Sr. Irene Martineau". Oxford Medical School Gazette. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 

External links

Infectious disease and microbiology
Disciplines
(pathogens)
Major diseases
Bacteriology (bacteria)
Virology (viruses, prions)
Mycology (fungi)
Parasitology (protozoa, helminths)
Entomology (ectoparasites)
People
Related topics
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.