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Brief Report Possible Prevention of an Outbreak of Group A Streptococcal Infection by a Prospective Epidemiologic Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Gerald A. Denys ,
Jane T. Palacas  and
A. Martin Lerner
Gerald A. Denys*
Affiliation:
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
Jane T. Palacas
Affiliation:
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
A. Martin Lerner
Affiliation:
Departments of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
*
Department of Medicine, Sinai Hospital of Detroit, Detroit, MI 48235
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Extract

On May 17, 1984, a 67-year-old woman with endometrial carcinoma underwent an uneventful abdominal hysterectomy. Suddenly, 18 hours later she was in septic shock, short of breath, restless and oliguric. The wound appeared intact without erythema. Intraabdominal sepsis was postulated and the patient was given full dosages of intravenous cefotaxime, metronidazole and netilmicin. At 48 hours postoperative, the abdominal wound showed areas of necrosis and the patient died. The wound, peritoneal fluid, urine and blood yielded group A (β-hemolytic streptococci (Streptococcus pyogenes). Shortly before death, intravenous penicillin had been administered. An epidemiologic study was promptly initiated.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 30 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1986

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