Volume 15, Number 9—September 2009
Research
Nurses’ Contacts and Potential for Infectious Disease Transmission
Helen Bernard
, Richela Fischer, Rafael T. Mikolajczyk, Mirjam Kretzschmar, and Manfred Wildner
, Richela Fischer, Rafael T. Mikolajczyk, Mirjam Kretzschmar, and Manfred WildnerTable 2
Characteristics of 5,161 contacts reported by surveyed nurses, Bavaria, Germany, April–July 2007
| Characteristic | Reported contacts, no. (%) |
|---|---|
| Place of contact | |
| Work | 4,207 (82) |
| Home | 226 (4) |
| Transportation | 32 (<1) |
| Other places | 349 (7) |
| Multiple locations | 232 (4) |
| Not specified |
115 (2) |
| Contact duration | |
| <15 minutes | 2,650 (51) |
| >15–60 minutes | 1,244 (24) |
| >1 hour | 1,202 (23) |
| Not specified |
65 (1) |
| Contact intensity | |
| Skin-to-skin | 2,646 (51) |
| Not skin-to-skin | 2,331 (45) |
| Not specified |
184 (4) |
| Age of contact person, y | |
| <20 | 284 (6) |
| 20–39 | 1,535 (30) |
| 40–59 | 1,558 (30) |
| >60 | 1,776 (34) |
| Not specified |
8 (<1) |
| Age of person contacted at work, y* | |
| <20 | 160 (4) |
| 20–39 | 1,171 (28) |
| 40–59 | 1,264 (30) |
| >60 | 1,611 (38) |
| Not specified |
1 (<1) |
| Age of person contacted outside work, y† | |
| <20 | 94 (15) |
| 20–39 | 226 (37) |
| 40–59 | 204 (34) |
| >60 | 83 (14) |
*n = 4,207.
†n = 607.
