An outbreak of Bacillus cereus respiratory tract infections on a neonatal unit due to contaminated ventilator circuits
| Autor: | M E I Morgan, Andrew K Ewer, Jim Gray, R.H. George, G M Durbin, M.D. Hocking |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1999 |
| Předmět: |
Microbiology (medical)
Cross infection medicine.medical_specialty Bacillus cereus Bacillaceae Infections Disease Outbreaks Intensive Care Units Neonatal Equipment Reuse medicine Humans Intensive care medicine Respiratory Tract Infections Cross Infection Ventilators Mechanical biology Respiratory tract infections business.industry Infant Newborn Outbreak General Medicine Contamination biology.organism_classification Disinfection Infectious Diseases England Cereus Lung disease Recien nacido Emergency medicine Equipment Contamination lipids (amino acids peptides and proteins) business Infant Premature |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Hospital Infection. 41:19-22 |
| ISSN: | 0195-6701 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/s0195-6701(99)90032-4 |
| Popis: | An outbreak of Bacillus cereus respiratory tract infections affecting six ventilated preterm neonates over a two-week period is described. Reusable ventilator circuits were identified as the cause of the outbreak. Ordinarily these were reprocessed on the Neonatal Unit (NNU), first through a washing machine and then through a low-temperature steam (LTS) disinfector. The onset of the outbreak coincided with a breakdown of the LTS facility, which necessitated sending the washed circuits off site for LTS disinfection. The washing machine was shown to be contaminated with the same serovars of B. cereus as those isolated from patients. Two critical steps in the off site LTS disinfection process allowed exsporulation and multiplication of B. cereus: the circuits were inadequately dried after processing, whilst return of the moist circuits to the NNU was often delayed. The outbreak was terminated by withdrawal of the heat-disinfected ventilator circuits. This outbreak emphasizes the need for high standards where medical equipment is reprocessed, especially for use in vulnerable patients. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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