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Pseudooutbreak of Pantoea species bacteremia associated with contaminated cotton pledgets

Hyun-Sook Koo1, Jae-Seok Kim, Joong-Sik Eom

  • 1Hospital Infection Control Office, Hallym University College of Medicine, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

American Journal of Infection Control
|September 2, 2006
PubMed

Insights

A hospital pseudooutbreak of Pantoea clinical infections was investigated. Molecular typing identified cotton pledgets as a potential source, highlighting the utility of molecular methods for tracking unusual bacterial isolates.

Area of Science:

  • Clinical Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Molecular Epidemiology

Background:

  • Pantoea species are uncommon causes of human infections.
  • A cluster of Pantoea isolates from blood cultures and an ear swab suggested a potential pseudooutbreak in a tertiary-care hospital.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the source and clonal relationship of Pantoea isolates causing a suspected pseudooutbreak.
  • To evaluate the role of molecular typing in identifying the origin of unusual clinical infections.

Main Methods:

  • Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for molecular typing.
  • Partial 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing for isolate identification and relatedness.
  • Screening of environmental cultures, including cotton pledgets.

Main Results:

  • Twenty-two Pantoea isolates were recovered from 9 patients and 1 ear swab within one month.
  • Molecular typing revealed two distinct clones of Pantoea strains responsible for the pseudooutbreak.
  • Contamination of cotton pledgets with Pantoea species was identified as a likely source.

Conclusions:

  • Cotton materials may serve as a reservoir for Pantoea pseudooutbreaks in healthcare settings.
  • Molecular typing techniques are valuable tools for investigating epidemics and characterizing unusual clinical isolates.

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