Burkholderia multivorans Infections Associated with Use of Ice and Water from Ice Machines for Patient Care Activities - Four Hospitals, California and Colorado, 2020-2024.

Ice machines can harbor water-related organisms, and the use of ice or tap water for clinical care activities has been associated with infections in health care settings. During 2021-2022, a total of 23 cases of infection by Burkholderia multivorans (sequence type ST659) were reported at two southern California hospitals and linked to contaminated ice and water from ice machines. In addition to these 23 cases, this report also includes 23 previously unreported cases of B. multivorans ST659 infections that occurred during 2020-2024: 13 at a northern California hospital, eight at a hospital in Colorado, and two additional cases at one of the southern California hospitals. The same brand of ice machine and brands of filters, descaling, and sanitizing products were used by all four hospitals; B. multivorans was isolated from samples collected from ice machines in two of the hospitals. Whole genome sequencing indicated that all clinical and ice machine isolates were highly genetically similar (0-14 single nucleotide variant differences across 81% of the selected reference genome). Recommendations from public health officials to halt the outbreak included avoiding ice and tap water during clinical care activities. An investigation is ongoing to determine possible sources of ice machine contamination. During outbreaks of water-related organisms in health care facilities, health care personnel should consider avoiding the use of tap water, including ice and water from ice machines, for patient care.

Clinical Laboratory Biosafety Gaps: Lessons Learned from Past Outbreaks Reveal a Path to a Safer Future.

Patient care and public health require timely, reliable laboratory testing. However, clinical laboratory professionals rarely know whether patient specimens contain infectious agents, making ensuring biosafety while performing testing procedures challenging. The importance of biosafety in clinical laboratories was highlighted during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, where concerns about biosafety resulted in delayed diagnoses and contributed to patient deaths. This review is a collaboration between subject matter experts from large and small laboratories and the federal government to evaluate the capability of clinical laboratories to manage biosafety risks and safely test patient specimens. We discuss the complexity of clinical laboratories, including anatomic pathology, and describe how applying current biosafety guidance may be difficult as these guidelines, largely based on practices in research laboratories, do not always correspond to the unique clinical laboratory environments and their specialized equipment and processes. We retrospectively describe the biosafety gaps and opportunities for improvement in the areas of risk assessment and management; automated and manual laboratory disciplines; specimen collection, processing, and storage; test utilization; equipment and instrumentation safety; disinfection practices; personal protective equipment; waste management; laboratory personnel training and competency assessment; accreditation processes; and ethical guidance. Also addressed are the unique biosafety challenges successfully handled by a Texas community hospital clinical laboratory that performed testing for patients with Ebola without a formal biocontainment unit. The gaps in knowledge and practices identified in previous and ongoing outbreaks demonstrate the need for collaborative, comprehensive solutions to improve clinical laboratory biosafety and to better combat future emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Outbreaks Associated with Treated Recreational Water - United States, 2000-2014.

Outbreaks associated with exposure to treated recreational water can be caused by pathogens or chemicals in venues such as pools, hot tubs/spas, and interactive water play venues (i.e., water playgrounds). During 2000-2014, public health officials from 46 states and Puerto Rico reported 493 outbreaks associated with treated recreational water. These outbreaks resulted in at least 27,219 cases and eight deaths. Among the 363 outbreaks with a confirmed infectious etiology, 212 (58%) were caused by Cryptosporidium (which causes predominantly gastrointestinal illness), 57 (16%) by Legionella (which causes Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia, and Pontiac fever, a milder illness with flu-like symptoms), and 47 (13%) by Pseudomonas (which causes folliculitis ["hot tub rash"] and otitis externa ["swimmers' ear"]). Investigations of the 363 outbreaks identified 24,453 cases; 21,766 (89%) were caused by Cryptosporidium, 920 (4%) by Pseudomonas, and 624 (3%) by Legionella. At least six of the eight reported deaths occurred in persons affected by outbreaks caused by Legionella. Hotels were the leading setting, associated with 157 (32%) of the 493 outbreaks. Overall, the outbreaks had a bimodal temporal distribution: 275 (56%) outbreaks started during June-August and 46 (9%) in March. Assessment of trends in the annual counts of outbreaks caused by Cryptosporidium, Legionella, or Pseudomonas indicate mixed progress in preventing transmission. Pathogens able to evade chlorine inactivation have become leading outbreak etiologies. The consequent outbreak and case counts and mortality underscore the utility of CDC's Model Aquatic Health Code (https://www.cdc.gov/mahc) to prevent outbreaks associated with treated recreational water.

Vital Signs: Health Care-Associated Legionnaires' Disease Surveillance Data from 20 States and a Large Metropolitan Area - United States, 2015.

BACKGROUND: Legionnaires' disease, a severe pneumonia, is typically acquired through inhalation of aerosolized water containing Legionella bacteria. Legionella can grow in the complex water systems of buildings, including health care facilities. Effective water management programs could prevent the growth of Legionella in building water systems. METHODS: Using national surveillance data, Legionnaires' disease cases were characterized from the 21 jurisdictions (20 U.S. states and one large metropolitan area) that reported exposure information for ≥90% of 2015 Legionella infections. An assessment of whether cases were health care-associated was completed; definite health care association was defined as hospitalization or long-term care facility residence for the entire 10 days preceding symptom onset, and possible association was defined as any exposure to a health care facility for a portion of the 10 days preceding symptom onset. All other Legionnaires' disease cases were considered unrelated to health care. RESULTS: A total of 2,809 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases were reported from the 21 jurisdictions, including 85 (3%) definite and 468 (17%) possible health care-associated cases. Among the 21 jurisdictions, 16 (76%) reported 1-21 definite health care-associated cases per jurisdiction. Among definite health care-associated cases, the majority (75, 88%) occurred in persons aged ≥60 years, and exposures occurred at 72 facilities (15 hospitals and 57 long-term care facilities). The case fatality rate was 25% for definite and 10% for possible health care-associated Legionnaires' disease. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE: Exposure to Legionella from health care facility water systems can result in Legionnaires' disease. The high case fatality rate of health care-associated Legionnaires' disease highlights the importance of case prevention and response activities, including implementation of effective water management programs and timely case identification.

Notes from the Field: Probable Mucormycosis Among Adult Solid Organ Transplant Recipients at an Acute Care Hospital - Pennsylvania, 2014-2015.

On September 17, 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) notified CDC of a cluster of three potentially health care-associated mucormycete infections that occurred among solid organ transplant recipients during a 12-month period at hospital A. On September 18, hospital B reported that it had identified an additional transplant recipient with mucormycosis. Hospitals A and B are part of the same health care system and are connected by a pedestrian bridge. PADOH requested CDC's assistance with an on-site investigation, which started on September 22, to identify possible sources of infection and prevent additional infections.

Hemodialysis and water quality.

Over 383,900 individuals in the U.S. undergo maintenance hemodialysis that exposes them to water, primarily in the form of dialysate. The quality of water and associated dialysis solutions have been implicated in adverse patient outcomes and is therefore critical. The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation has published both standards and recommended practices that address both water and the dialyzing solutions. Some of these recommendations have been adopted into Federal Regulations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as part of the Conditions for Coverage, which includes limits on specific contaminants within water used for dialysis, dialysate, and substitution fluids. Chemical, bacterial, and endotoxin contaminants are health threats to dialysis patients, as shown by the continued episodic nature of outbreaks since the 1960s causing at least 592 cases and 16 deaths in the U.S. The importance of the dialysis water distribution system, current standards and recommendations, acceptable monitoring methods, a review of chemical, bacterial, and endotoxin outbreaks, and infection control programs are discussed.

Plumbing of hospital premises is a reservoir for opportunistically pathogenic microorganisms: a review.

Several bacterial species that are natural inhabitants of potable water distribution system biofilms are opportunistic pathogens important to sensitive patients in healthcare facilities. Waterborne healthcare-associated infections (HAI) may occur during the many uses of potable water in the healthcare environment. Prevention of infection is made more challenging by lack of data on infection rate and gaps in understanding of the ecology, virulence, and infectious dose of these opportunistic pathogens. Some healthcare facilities have been successful in reducing infections by following current water safety guidelines. This review describes several infections, and remediation steps that have been implemented to reduce waterborne HAIs.

Outbreak of hepatitis C virus infections at an outpatient hemodialysis facility: the importance of infection control competencies.

In the United States, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among patients treated in hemodialysis facilities is five times higher than among the general population. This study investigated eight new hepatitis C virus infections among patients treated at an outpatient hemodialysis facility. Epidemiologic investigation and viral sequencing demonstrated that transmission likely occurred between patients typically treated during the same or consecutive shifts at the same or a nearby station. Several infection control breaches were observed including lapses involving the preparation, handling, and administration of parenteral medications. Improved infection control education and training for all hemodialysis facility staff is an important component of assuring adherence to appropriate procedures and preventing future outbreaks.

Vascular access hemorrhages contribute to deaths among hemodialysis patients.

In 2007 the Maryland Medical Examiner noted a potential cluster of fatal vascular access hemorrhages among hemodialysis patients, many of whom died outside of a health-care setting. To examine the epidemiology of fatal vascular access hemorrhages, we conducted a retrospective case review in District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia from January 2000 to July 2007 and a case-control study. Records from the Medical Examiner and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were reviewed, from which 88 patients were identified as fatal vascular access hemorrhage cases. To assess risk factors, a subset of 20 cases from Maryland was compared to 38 controls randomly selected among hemodialysis patients who died from non-vascular access hemorrhage causes at the same Maryland facilities. Of the 88 confirmed cases, 55% hemorrhaged from arteriovenous grafts, 24% from arteriovenous fistulas, and 21% from central venous catheters. Of 82 case-patients with known location of hemorrhage, 78% occurred at home or in a nursing home. In the case-control analysis, statistically significant risk factors included the presence of an arteriovenous graft, access-related complications within 6 months of death, and hypertension; presence of a central venous catheter was significantly protective. Psychosocial factors and anticoagulant medications were not significant risk factors. Effective strategies to control vascular access hemorrhage in the home and further delineation of warning signs are needed.