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Findings cast doubt on CDC guidance for return to work after H1N1 flu
A study from Seattle calls into question the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) recommendation that healthcare personnel (HCP) infected with the 2009 H1N1 virus can safely return to work once they have been free of fever for 24 hours without antipyretic medication. The study, published by Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID), focused on a group of medical residents who contracted the virus while attending a work-related, weeklong retreat in September 2009. Sixteen of 32 HCP who attended the entire retreat got sick afterward with confirmed H1N1 flu and participated in the study. The participants recorded their temperature and provided nasal wash specimens daily for 2 weeks after symptom onset. The specimens were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture. When the residents met the CDC criteria for returning to work, 12 of 16 (75%) still had virus detectable by PCR, and 9 of 16 had virus detectable by culture. "HCP might shed virus when meeting CDC exclusion guidelines," the report says. "Further research is needed to clarify the association between viral shedding, symptoms, and infectiousness."
Mar 16 EID report

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/4/pdfs/10-0866.pdf