TY - JOUR AU - De Serres, Gaston AU - Rouleau, Isabelle AU - Hamelin, Marie-Eve AU - Quach, Caroline AU - Skowronski, Danuta AU - Flamand, Louis AU - Boulianne, Nicole AU - Li, Yan AU - Carbonneau, Julie AU - Bourgault, Anne-Marie AU - Couillard, Michel AU - Charest, Hugues AU - Boivin, Guy T1 - Contagious Period for Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2010 VL - 16 IS - 5 SP - 783 SN - 1080-6059 AB - We estimated the proportion of persons with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 who were shedding infectious virus at diagnosis and on day 8 of illness. In households with confirmed cases, nasopharyngeal swabs were collected on all members and tested by PCR and virus culture. Of 47 cases confirmed by PCR at <7 days of illness, virus culture was positive in 92% (11/12) of febrile and 63% (22/35) of afebrile persons. Of 43 persons with PCR-confirmed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 from whom a second specimen was collected on day 8, 74% remained PCR positive and 19% were culture positive. If the 73 symptomatic household members without PCR-confirmed illness are assumed to have pandemic (H1N1) 2009, a minimum of 8% (6/73) of case-patients shed replicating virus on day 8. Self-isolation only until fever abates appears insufficient to limit transmission. Self-isolation for a week may be more effective, although some case-patients still would shed infectious virus. KW - Influenza KW - contagiousness KW - shedding KW - pandemic KW - viruses KW - expedited KW - research KW - Canada DO - 10.3201/eid1605.091894 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/5/09-1894_article ER - End of Reference