Septicaemia from prolonged intravenous infusions.

Four cases of septicaemia in children were traced to contaminated intravenous infusions and volume control sets. In each case Pseudomonas cepacia was isolated from multiple blood cultures and from intravenous fluid within the volume control set. The first patient died of septicaemia after a long and complicated postoperative period. The other three patients received appropriate antibiotics after removal of the contaminated intravenous sets and they recovered within 2 weeks.