ABSTRACT
We report an outbreak of Serratia marcescens infection in a special-care baby unit (SCBU) of a university-affiliated community hospital in the United Arab Emirates. The outbreak involved 36 infants and lasted for 20 weeks. Seven of the colonized infants developed invasive illnesses in the form of bacteraemia (four cases), bacteraemic meningitis (two) and clinical sepsis (one). Three other term infants had purulent conjunctivitis. There were five deaths with an overall mortality of 14%. S. marcescens was cultured from airflow samples from the air conditioning (AC) which was the reservoir of infection in this outbreak. Elimination of the nosocomial source and outbreak containment were eventually achieved by specialized robotic cleaning of the entire AC duct system of the SCBU. Strict adherence to the infection control policies was reinforced to prevent transmission of cross-infection.
Subject(s)
Air Conditioning/adverse effects , Cross Infection/etiology , Disease Outbreaks/statistics & numerical data , Equipment Contamination , Infant, Premature, Diseases/etiology , Intensive Care Units, Neonatal , Serratia Infections/etiology , Serratia marcescens , Air Conditioning/instrumentation , Air Microbiology , Birth Weight , Cross Infection/epidemiology , Cross Infection/microbiology , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Disease Reservoirs , Disinfection , Environmental Monitoring/methods , Epidemiological Monitoring , Equipment Contamination/prevention & control , Equipment Contamination/statistics & numerical data , Gestational Age , Hospital Mortality , Hospitals, Community , Hospitals, University , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature, Diseases/epidemiology , Infant, Premature, Diseases/prevention & control , Infection Control/methods , Risk Factors , Serratia Infections/epidemiology , Serratia Infections/prevention & control , United Arab Emirates/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) can now be prevented by vaccination. We present the clinical and laboratory characteristics of acute invasive H. influenzae diseases in children admitted over a 4-year period to a tertiary paediatric ward of the Al-Ain medical district hospital, before vaccination became available in the United Arab Emirates. In all, 38 children had bacteriologically proven H. influenzae invasive diseases and all the isolates were serotype b. Meningitis was diagnosed in 60.5% of the children and 66% of the studied children were under 12 months. There were no deaths but substantial morbidity occurred in 12 children.
Subject(s)
Haemophilus Infections/epidemiology , Haemophilus Infections/microbiology , Haemophilus influenzae type b , Acute Disease , Age Distribution , Child , Child, Preschool , Cluster Analysis , Haemophilus Infections/prevention & control , Haemophilus Vaccines/supply & distribution , Hospitals, District , Humans , Infant , Morbidity , Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data , Population Surveillance , Retrospective Studies , Seasons , Treatment Outcome , United Arab Emirates/epidemiology , VaccinationABSTRACT
Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib] can now be prevented by vaccination. We present the clinical and laboratory characteristics of acute invasive H. influenzae diseases in children admitted over a 4-year period to a tertiary paediatric ward of the Al-Ain medical district hospital, before vaccination became available in the United Arab Emirates. In all, 38 children had bacteriologically proven H. influenzae invasive diseases and all the isolates were serotype b. Meningitis was diagnosed in 60.5% of the children and 66% of the studied children were under 12 months. There were no deaths but substantial morbidity occurred in 12 children
