Outbreak investigation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in a neonatal intensive care unit

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2019-08-22

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Weng, Mark K., Richard B. Brooks, Janet Glowicz, M. Shannon Keckler, Bryan E. Christensen, Victoria Tsai, Clifford S. Mitchell, et al. “Outbreak Investigation of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Infections in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.” American Journal of Infection Control 47, no. 9 (September 1, 2019): 1148–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2019.03.009.

Rights

This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain Mark 1.0

Subjects

Abstract

A Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak was investigated in a neonatal intensive care unit that had experienced a prior similar outbreak. The 8 cases identified included 2 deaths. An investigation found the cause of the outbreak: tap water from contaminated hospital plumbing which was used for humidifier reservoirs, neonatal bathing, and nutritional preparation. Our findings reinforce a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services memo recommending increased attention to water management to improve awareness, identification, mitigation, and prevention of water-associated, health care–associated infections.