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Pseudo-outbreak of Acinetobacter lwoffii infection in a tertiary care center in Thailand

Anucha Apisarnthanarak1, Pattarachai Kiratisin, Kanokporn Thongphubeth

  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasart University Hospital, Pratumthani, Thailand. anapisarn@yahoo.com

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
|April 28, 2007
PubMed

Insights

A microbiology lab

Area of Science:

  • Clinical microbiology
  • Infectious disease epidemiology

Background:

  • Introduction of new automated systems in clinical laboratories can lead to identification challenges.
  • Acinetobacter lwoffii is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause nosocomial infections.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe a pseudo-outbreak caused by Acinetobacter lwoffii.
  • To identify the root cause of the pseudo-outbreak.
  • To highlight the importance of early recognition and prompt investigation of laboratory-identified infections.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of clinical and laboratory data.
  • Analysis of the Vitek automated system's performance and algorithm utilization.
  • Epidemiological investigation of affected patients.

Main Results:

  • A pseudo-outbreak involving 16 patients was identified.
  • The pseudo-outbreak was linked to the incomplete use of the Vitek GNS-506 automated system's algorithm.
  • Misidentification of Acinetobacter lwoffii clinical isolates occurred due to this issue.

Conclusions:

  • Early recognition of pseudo-outbreaks is crucial for efficient resource allocation.
  • Incomplete utilization of automated laboratory system algorithms can lead to misidentification and pseudo-outbreaks.
  • Promptly identifying the source averted a larger outbreak and unnecessary infection control measures.

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