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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2914-2917, Vol. 36, No. 10
Departments of Laboratory
Medicine,1
Internal
Medicine,2 and
Nursery,
Received 20 April 1998/Returned for modification 2 July
1998/Accepted 23 July 1998
From 7 to 24 March 1997, four patients developed Pseudomonas
fluorescens bacteremia at the hospital; one on the oncology ward and the other three in the chemotherapy room. These patients all had
underlying malignancies and had the Port-A-Cath (Smiths
Industries Medical Systems, Deltec, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.)
implants. Three patients had primary bacteremia, and one had
Port-A-Cath-related infection. None of these patients had received a
blood transfusion before the episodes of bacteremia. All patients
recovered: two received antimicrobial agents with in vitro
activity against the isolates, and the other two did not have any
antibiotic treatment. A total of eight blood isolates were recovered
from these patients during the febrile episodes that occurred
several minutes after the infusion of chemotherapeutic agents via the
Port-A-Cath. These isolates were initially identified as P. fluorescens or Pseudomonas putida (four),
Burkholderia (Ralstonia) pickettii
(three), and a non-glucose-fermenting gram-negative bacillus (one) by
routine biochemical methods and the Vitek GNI card. These isolates were later identified as P. fluorescens on the basis of the
characteristic cellular fatty acid chromatogram and the results of
supplemental biochemical tests. The identification of identical
antibiotypes by the E test and the random amplified polymorphic DNA
patterns generated by arbitrarily primed PCR of the isolates showed
that the outbreak was caused by a single clone of P. fluorescens. Surveillance cultures of the possibly contaminated
infusion fluids and disinfectants, which were performed 7 days after
recognition of the last infected patient, failed to isolate P. fluorescens. This report of a small outbreak caused by P. fluorescens suggests that timely, accurate identification of
unusual nosocomial pathogens is crucial for early initiation of an
epidemiological investigation and timely control of an outbreak.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Outbreak of Pseudomonas fluorescens
Bacteremia among Oncology Patients
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital,
Chung-Shan South Rd., Taipei, Taiwan. Phone: 886-2-23562149. Fax:
886-2-23224263. E-mail: luhkt{at}ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2914-2917, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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