Suspected Legionella Transmission from a Single Donor to Two Lung Transplant Recipients - Pennsylvania, May 2022.

In July 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Health received two reports of laboratory-confirmed Legionnaires disease in patients who had recently received lung transplants from the same donor at a single Pennsylvania hospital. The donor's cause of death was freshwater drowning in a river, raising suspicion of potential donor-derived transmission, because Legionella bacteria naturally live in fresh water. Further investigation of patients receiving other organs from the same donor did not identify additional legionellosis cases. Health care-associated infection caused by water exposure at the hospital was also evaluated as a potential source of infection and was found to be unlikely. Hospital water quality parameter measurements collected during May-June 2022 were within expected ranges and no water disruptions were noted, although no testing for Legionella was performed during this period. Notifiable disease data did not identify any other Legionnaires disease cases with exposure to this hospital within the 6 months before or after the two cases. Although laboratory testing did not confirm the source of recipient infections, available data suggest that the most likely source was the donor lungs. This cluster highlights the need for increased clinical awareness of possible infection with Legionella in recipients of lungs from donors who drowned in fresh water before organ recovery.

Suspected Legionella Transmission from a Single Donor to Two Lung Transplant Recipients - Pennsylvania, May 2022.

In July 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Health received two reports of laboratory-confirmed Legionnaires disease in patients who had recently received lung transplants from the same donor at a single Pennsylvania hospital. The donor's cause of death was freshwater drowning in a river, raising suspicion of potential donor-derived transmission, because Legionella bacteria naturally live in fresh water. Further investigation of patients receiving other organs from the same donor did not identify additional legionellosis cases. Health care-associated infection caused by water exposure at the hospital was also evaluated as a potential source of infection and was found to be unlikely. Hospital water quality parameter measurements collected during May-June 2022 were within expected ranges and no water disruptions were noted, although no testing for Legionella was performed during this period. Notifiable disease data did not identify any other Legionnaires disease cases with exposure to this hospital within the 6 months before or after the two cases. Although laboratory testing did not confirm the source of recipient infections, available data suggest that the most likely source was the donor lungs. This cluster highlights the need for increased clinical awareness of possible infection with Legionella in recipients of lungs from donors who drowned in fresh water before organ recovery.

False daptomycin-nonsusceptible MIC results by Microscan panel PC 29 relative to Etest results for Staphylococcus aureus and enterococci.

This study correlated the daptomycin MIC results obtained by Microscan and by Etest in Staphylococcus aureus and enterococci and found that the Microscan panel GP 29 had a high rate of false nonsusceptible results. Of the isolates interpreted as nonsusceptible by Microscan, 87% of Staphylococcus aureus, 90% of Enterococcus faecalis, and 88% of Enterococcus faecium isolates were interpreted as susceptible by Etest. In turn, Etest also has false nonsusceptible results compared to reference methods.

HIV and sexually transmitted disease risk among male Hispanic/Latino migrant farmworkers in the Southeast: Findings from a pilot CBPR study.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk behaviors of Hispanic/Latino farmworkers. This study was designed to describe risk factors for HIV and STD infection, explore personal characteristics associated with condom use, and evaluate the feasibility of collecting self-report and biomarker data from farmworkers. METHODS: Self-report and biomarker data were collected from a sample of male farmworkers living in 29 camps in North Carolina during the 2008 growing season. RESULTS: Over half of the 100 male workers, mean age 37.1 (range 19-68) years, reported binge drinking during the past 12 months. Forty percent of those who reported having had sex during the past 3 months indicated that they were under the influence of alcohol. Knowledge of HIV and STD transmission and prevention was low. Among the 25 workers who reported having had sex during the past 3 months, 16 and 2 reported using a condom consistently during vaginal and anal sex, respectively, and nearly 1 out of 6 workers reported paying a woman to have sex. Two workers tested positive for syphilis. CONCLUSIONS: Farmworkers in this sample demonstrated significant HIV and STD risks; however, when exploring potential bivariate associations with consistent condom use no statistically significant associations were identified perhaps due to the small sample size. Because it was feasible to collect self-report and biomarker data related to HIV and STDs from Hispanic/Latino farmworkers, research needed to further explore risks and develop interventions to reduce disease exposure and transmission among this vulnerable population.