Detection and Prevalence of Adenoviral Conjunctivitis among Hospital Employees Using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction as an Infection Prevention Tool

Abstract

Hospital employees with suspected adenoviral conjunctivitis underwent evaluation and testing with real-time polymerase chain reaction. Viral conjunctivitis was suspected in 307 (59%) of 518 employees with eye complaints; adenovirus was detected in 4% (22 of 518). Four employees had genotypes consistent with epidemic keratoconjunctivitis. This algorithm minimizes productivity loss compared with clinical diagnosis.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(6):728–731