Enterobacter cloacae bloodstream infections traced to contaminated human albumin.

Abstract

In August 1996, a patient in Kansas developed an Enterobacter cloacae bloodstream infection (BSI) shortly after receiving Albuminar, a brand of human albumin. Albuminar contamination was suspected. A case-control study of patients with primary gram-negative bacterial BSIs showed that patients with E. cloacae BSIs were significantly more likely than patients with non-E. cloacae gram-negative BSIs to have received Albuminar within 3 days of developing their BSIs (3 of 5 vs. 0 of 9; OR, undefined; P=.03). The E. cloacae isolate from the Kansas patient was found by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to be identical to the isolate from the patient's Albuminar vial, to isolates from 2 previously unopened Albuminar vials, and to an isolate from a Wisconsin patient who had received Albuminar. A worldwide recall of approximately 116,000 Albuminar vials took place. This multistate outbreak was detected because of clinical astuteness and prompt reporting. Combined epidemiological and laboratory approaches are valuable when investigating potentially contaminated blood components and plasma derivatives.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Wang SA, Tokars JI, Bianchine PJ, Carson LA, Arduino MJ, Smith AL, Hansen NC, Fitzgerald EA, Epstein JS, Jarvis WR

Institution

Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. sjw8@cdc.gov

Source

Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 30:1 2000 Jan pg 35-40

MeSH

Adult
Bacteremia
Case-Control Studies
Child, Preschool
Drug Contamination
Enterobacter cloacae
Enterobacteriaceae Infections
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Middle Aged
Serum Albumin

Pub Type(s)

Case Reports
Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

10619730