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An outbreak of Staphylococcus aureus in a pediatric cardiothoracic surgery unit
- Source :
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Vol. 23, No 2 (2002) pp. 77-81
- Publication Year :
- 2002
-
Abstract
- Objective:To investigate an outbreak ofStaphylococcus aureussurgical-site infections.Design:Case–control study.Setting:Pediatric cardiothoracic surgery service of a tertiary-care university medical center.Method:Molecular typing was used to identify healthcare workers who carried the epidemic strain.Results:Three children acquired surgical-site infections caused by a single strain ofS. aureus. Fourteen (25%) of the staff members in the operating room and 17 (11%) on nursing units carried the epidemic strain (P= 01). A case–control study identified 4 healthcare workers who were associated statistically with the outbreak, 2 of whom (a cardiothoracic surgeon and a perfusionist) carried the epidemic strain in their nares. The surgeon also carried the epidemic strain on his hands. Each staff member who carried the epidemic strain was treated with mupirocin; those carrying the strain on their hands were required to wash their hands with chlorhexidine. The surgeon was not allowed to perform surgery until 2 of his hand cultures did not growS. aureus.Conclusions:Only three children were infected with the epidemic strain, but it was disseminated widely among staff who cared for children who underwent cardiothoracic surgery. No additional cases were identified after staff members who carried the epidemic strain were decolonized. Both classic epidemiologic methods and molecular typing techniques were necessary to identify the source and extent of this outbreak.
- Subjects :
- Microbiology (medical)
medicine.medical_specialty
Operating Rooms
Staphylococcus aureus
Nasal Cavity/ microbiology
Epidemiology
Cross Infection/ epidemiology/transmission
Mupirocin
Nursing Staff, Hospital
medicine.disease_cause
Single strain
Disease Outbreaks
chemistry.chemical_compound
Medical Staff, Hospital
Medicine
Humans
Surgical Wound Infection
University medical
Intensive care medicine
Epidemic strain
ddc:616
Cross Infection
business.industry
Outbreak
Staphylococcus aureus/ isolation & purification
Carrier State/diagnosis/ epidemiology
Staphylococcal Infections/ epidemiology/transmission
Staphylococcal Infections
Iowa
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
Iowa/epidemiology
Infectious Diseases
chemistry
Perfusionist
Cardiothoracic surgery
Case-Control Studies
Child, Preschool
Emergency medicine
Carrier State
Surgical Wound Infection/ epidemiology/microbiology
Nasal Cavity
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0899823X and 01959417
- Volume :
- 23
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Infection control and hospital epidemiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4baf4fbc5cfd05a2c3b7a53702c1c018