Successful control of Serratia marcescens outbreak in a neonatal unit of a tertiary-care hospital in Spain.
Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin (Engl Ed)
; 40(5): 248-254, 2022 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35577443
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Serratia marcescens is a Gram-negative bacterium that is found in hospital environments and commonly associated with outbreaks in neonatal units. One S. marcescens isolate was detected from a bloodstream culture from a neonate in our hospital that was followed by an outbreak. The aim of this study was to describe the molecular epidemiology of a S. marcescens outbreak in the neonatal unit.METHODS:
In order to investigate the outbreak, weekly surveillance rectal swabs were submitted for culture from all patients admitted in this unit from August to September 2018. Environmental samples were obtained from potential sources in September 2018. Typing of isolates was performed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In addition, we studied the in vitro activity of chlorhexidine against S. marcescens.RESULTS:
During this period, 146 infants were hospitalised in our neonatal unit, of which 16 patients had a S. marcescens-positive sample. A total of 36 environmental surveillance samples were collected, and one sample from a stethoscope from an incubator of a colonized baby was positive for S. marcescens. All the 18 isolates, including the isolate from the stethoscope, belonged to a single PFGE cluster. We found that very low concentrations of chlorhexidine, even with application times close to 0 achieved significant reductions in the amount of S. marcescens.CONCLUSION:
A unique clone of S. marcescens caused this outbreak, including isolates from patients and from one stethoscope. The outbreak was controlled with the early implementation of specific control measures.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Infección Hospitalaria
/
Infecciones por Serratia
Límite:
Humans
/
Newborn
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin (Engl Ed)
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article