Country-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honey bees and wild bees.

Neonicotinoid seed dressings have caused concern world-wide. We use large field experiments to assess the effects of neonicotinoid-treated crops on three bee species across three countries (Hungary, Germany, and the United Kingdom). Winter-sown oilseed rape was grown commercially with either seed coatings containing neonicotinoids (clothianidin or thiamethoxam) or no seed treatment (control). For honey bees, we found both negative (Hungary and United Kingdom) and positive (Germany) effects during crop flowering. In Hungary, negative effects on honey bees (associated with clothianidin) persisted over winter and resulted in smaller colonies in the following spring (24% declines). In wild bees (Bombus terrestris and Osmia bicornis), reproduction was negatively correlated with neonicotinoid residues. These findings point to neonicotinoids causing a reduced capacity of bee species to establish new populations in the year following exposure.

A Flavobacterium meningosepticum outbreak among intensive care patients.

A Flavobacterium meningosepticum outbreak, involving 12 infected and 47 colonized intensive care patients during the months of February through July 1990, was investigated. F. meningosepticum was isolated from tap water and ice, but these environmental strains eventually proved to be distinct from those colonizing patients. A review of newly colonized patients' charts revealed that a common factor among the patients was daily changes of ventilator tubing pasteurized in the hospital's central sterile department. More than 90% of patients in the outbreak had been on ventilators that used the pasteurized tubing. An investigation of the pasteurization process found that two pasteurizer tanks had been operating at suboptimal temperatures (< 62 degrees C). Cultures of water from the tanks and droplets of water found in the pasteurized tubing grew species of Acinetobacter, Moraxella, and Pseudomonas but did not grow F. meningosepticum. After deficiencies in the pasteurization process were corrected, the outbreak terminated. Despite the failure to culture F. meningosepticum, an analysis of gram-negative bacillary isolates showed that the deficiency in the pasteurization process was a major contributor to colonization of ventilated patients by bacteria ubiquitous in tap water.

Asepsis--transplant infection control in the OR.

1. A source of microorganisms, a mode of transmission, and a susceptible host are needed for infection to occur. Transplant recipients are susceptible because normal defense mechanisms are undermined by cytotoxic agents and steroids to prevent rejection of the allograft. 2. The specific type of organ transplant affects the site and type of infection. The stress of surgery and the duration of the operative procedure are important risk factors. The more the patient is subjected to invasive procedures, the greater the risk for infection. 3. The responsibility of maintaining sterility for the transplant patient falls on all personnel involved from procurement to implantation. The OR nurse and others involved in transplantation must be aware at all times of the potential introduction of contaminants to the transplant patient.