A Noël1, C Vastrade2, S Dupont2, M de Barsy3, T D Huang3, T Van Maerken4, I Leroux-Roels4, B Delaere5, L Melly6, B Rondelet6, C Dransart7, A S Dincq7, I Michaux8, P Bogaerts3, Y Glupczynski9. 1. Infection Control Unit, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. Electronic address: audrey.noel@uclouvain.be. 2. Infection Control Unit, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 3. National Reference Centre for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 4. Infection Control Unit, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. 5. Infectious Diseases Unit, Internal Medicine Department, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 6. Cardiovascular, Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantation Department, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 7. Anesthesiology Department, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 8. Intensive Care Unit Department, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium. 9. Infection Control Unit, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium; National Reference Centre for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria, CHU UCL Namur, Yvoir, Belgium.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Enterobacteriaceae are recognized as leading pathogens of healthcare-associated infections. AIM: To report the investigation of a nosocomial outbreak of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacter cloacae affecting cardiothoracic surgery patients in a Belgian academic hospital. METHODS: Cases were defined based on epidemiological and microbiological investigations, including molecular typing using repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction and multi-locus sequence typing. Case-control studies followed by field evaluations allowed the identification of a possible reservoir, and the retrospective assessment of human and financial consequences. FINDINGS: Over a three-month period, 42 patients were infected or colonized by CTX-M-15-producing E. cloacae strains that belonged to the same clonal lineage. Acquisition mainly occurred in the intensive care unit (N = 23) and in the cardiothoracic surgery ward (N = 16). All but one patient had, prior to acquisition, undergone a cardiothoracic surgical procedure, monitored by the same transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) probe in the operating room. Despite negative microbiological culture results, the exclusion of the suspected probe resulted in rapid termination of the outbreak. Overall, the outbreak was associated with a high mortality rate among infected patients (40%) as well as significant costs (€266,550). CONCLUSION: The outbreak was indirectly shown to be associated with the contamination of a manually disinfected TOE probe used per-operatively during cardiothoracic surgery procedures, because withdrawal of the putative device led to rapid termination of the outbreak.
BACKGROUND: Enterobacteriaceae are recognized as leading pathogens of healthcare-associated infections. AIM: To report the investigation of a nosocomial outbreak of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacter cloacae affecting cardiothoracic surgery patients in a Belgian academic hospital. METHODS: Cases were defined based on epidemiological and microbiological investigations, including molecular typing using repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction and multi-locus sequence typing. Case-control studies followed by field evaluations allowed the identification of a possible reservoir, and the retrospective assessment of human and financial consequences. FINDINGS: Over a three-month period, 42 patients were infected or colonized by CTX-M-15-producing E. cloacae strains that belonged to the same clonal lineage. Acquisition mainly occurred in the intensive care unit (N = 23) and in the cardiothoracic surgery ward (N = 16). All but one patient had, prior to acquisition, undergone a cardiothoracic surgical procedure, monitored by the same transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) probe in the operating room. Despite negative microbiological culture results, the exclusion of the suspected probe resulted in rapid termination of the outbreak. Overall, the outbreak was associated with a high mortality rate among infectedpatients (40%) as well as significant costs (€266,550). CONCLUSION: The outbreak was indirectly shown to be associated with the contamination of a manually disinfected TOE probe used per-operatively during cardiothoracic surgery procedures, because withdrawal of the putative device led to rapid termination of the outbreak.
Authors: Dennis Nurjadi; Martin Scherrer; Uwe Frank; Nico T Mutters; Alexandra Heininger; Isabel Späth; Vanessa M Eichel; Jonas Jabs; Katja Probst; Carsten Müller-Tidow; Juliane Brandt; Klaus Heeg; Sébastien Boutin Journal: Microbiol Spectr Date: 2021-11-24
Authors: Tom Van Maerken; Els De Brabandere; Audrey Noël; Liselotte Coorevits; Pascal De Waegemaeker; Raina Ablorh; Stefaan Bouchez; Ingrid Herck; Harlinde Peperstraete; Pierre Bogaerts; Bruno Verhasselt; Youri Glupczynski; Jerina Boelens; Isabel Leroux-Roels Journal: Antimicrob Resist Infect Control Date: 2019-09-18 Impact factor: 4.887