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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1398-1403, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0

Postsurgical Candida albicans Infections Associated with an Extrinsically Contaminated Intravenous Anesthetic Agent

Michael M. McNeil,1,* Brent A. Lasker,1 Timothy J. Lott,1 and William R. Jarvis2

Mycotic Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases,1 and Investigation and Prevention Branch, Hospital Infections Program,2 National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333

Received 2 October 1998/Returned for modification 7 January 1999/Accepted 6 February 1999

From 16 to 30 April 1990, four of 364 (1%) postsurgical patients at one hospital developed Candida albicans fungemia or endophthalmitis. The case patients' surgeries were clustered on two days. To identify risk factors for C. albicans infections, we conducted a cohort study comparing these 4 patients with 67 control patients who had surgeries on the same days but did not acquire C. albicans infections. The participation of anesthesiologist 9 (relative risk [RR], undefined; P < 0.001) and receipt of intravenous propofol, an anesthetic agent without preservative, which was administered by an infusion pump (RR, 8.8; P = 0.048) were identified as risk factors for C. albicans infections. The anesthetic had been recently introduced in the hospital. Hand cultures of 8 of 14 (57%) anesthesiologists were positive for Candida species; one yielded C. albicans. Anesthesiologist 9 was the only one to use stored syringes of propofol in the infusion pump and to reuse propofol syringes. DNA fingerprinting with a digoxigenin-labeled C. albicans repetitive element 2 probe and electrophoretic karyotyping showed two distinct banding patterns among patient isolates. We hypothesize that extrinsic contamination of propofol by anesthesiologist 9 likely resulted in C. albicans infections. These data suggest that strict aseptic techniques must be used when preparing and administering propofol.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Mailstop C-23, CDC, Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-4697. Fax: (404) 639-3059. E-mail: mmm2{at}cdc.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1398-1403, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0


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