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Exogenous Sources of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Intensive Care Unit Patients Implementation of Infection Control Measures and Follow-Up With Molecular Typing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Christiane Petignat ,
Patrick Francioli ,
Immaculée Nahimana ,
Aline Wenger ,
Jacques Bille ,
Marie-Denise Schaller ,
Jean-Pierre Revelly ,
Giorgio Zanetti  and
Dominique S. Blanc
Christiane Petignat
Affiliation:
Hospital Preventive Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Patrick Francioli
Affiliation:
Hospital Preventive Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Immaculée Nahimana
Affiliation:
Hospital Preventive Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Aline Wenger
Affiliation:
Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Jacques Bille
Affiliation:
Institute of Microbiology, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Marie-Denise Schaller
Affiliation:
Medical Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Jean-Pierre Revelly
Affiliation:
Surgical Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Giorgio Zanetti
Affiliation:
Hospital Preventive Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Dominique S. Blanc*
Affiliation:
Hospital Preventive Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
*
Division Autonome de Médecine Préventive Hospitalière, Centre Hospitalière Universitaire Vaudois, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland, (Dominique.Blanc@chuv.ch)
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Abstract

Background.

In 1998, a study in the intensive care unit (ICU) of our institution suggested possible transmission of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from faucet to patient and from patient to patient. Infection-control measures were implemented to reduce the degree of P. aeruginosa colonization in faucets, to reduce the use of faucet water in certain patient care procedures, and to reduce the rate of transmission from patient to patient.

Objective.

To evaluate the effect of the control measures instituted in 1999 to prevent P. aeruginosa infection and colonization in ICU patients.

Design.

Prospective, molecular, epidemiological investigation.

Setting.

A 870-bed, university-affiliated, tertiary care teaching hospital.

Methods.

The investigation was performed in a manner identical to the 1998 investigation. ICU patients with a clinical specimen positive for P. aeruginosa were identified prospectively. Swab specimens from the inner part of the ICU faucets were obtained for the culture on 9 occasions between September 1997 and December 2000. All patients and environmental isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

Results.

Compared with the 1998 study, in 2000 we found that the annual incidence of ICU patients colonized or infected with P. aeruginosa had decreased by half (26.6 patients per 1,000 admissions in 2000 vs 59.0 patients per 1,000 admissions in 1998), although the populations of patients were comparable. This decrease was the result of the decreased incidence of cases in which an isolate had a PFGE pattern identical to that of an isolate from a faucet (7.0 cases per 1,000 admissions in 2000, vs 23.6 per 1,000 admissions in 1998) or from another patient (6.5 cases per 1,000 admissions in 2000 vs 16.5 cases per 1,000 admissions in 1998), whereas the incidence of cases in which the isolate had a unique PFGE pattern remained nearly unchanged (13.1 cases per 1,000 admissions in 2000 vs 15.6 cases per 1,000 admissions in 1998).

Conclusions.

These results suggest that infection control measures were effective in decreasing the rate of P. aeruginosa colonization and infection in ICU patients, confirming that P. aeruginosa strains were of exogenous origin in a substantial proportion of patients during the preintervention period.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 27 , Issue 9 , September 2006 , pp. 953 - 957
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2006

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