Outbreak of HIV infection linked to nosocomial transmission, China, 2016–2017

Abstract

On January 25, 2017, a physician from ZC Hospital in Hangzhou, China, reported to the Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention that a potential HIV outbreak might have occurred during lymphocyte immunotherapy (LIT) performed at the hospital on December 30, 2016. We immediately began investigating and identified the index case-patient as an LIT patient’s husband who donated lymphocytes for his wife’s LIT and later screened HIV-reactive. Subsequent contamination by a technician resulted in the potential exposure of 34 LIT patients. Acute HIV infection was diagnosed in 5 persons. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the HIV-1 gag, pol, and env gene sequences from the index and outbreak-related cases had ≥99.5% similarity. Rapid investigation and implementation of effective control measures successfully controlled the outbreak. This incident provides evidence of a lapse in infection control causing HIV transmission, highlighting the need for stronger measures to protect patients from infectious disease exposure.