Hospital toilets and drainage systems as a reservoir for a long-term polyclonal outbreak of clinical infections with multidrug-resistant species complex.

Background: Nosocomial outbreaks with multidrug-resistant bacteria with a probable reservoir in hospital toilets and drainage systems have been increasingly reported.

Aim: To investigate an increase in bacteraemia with extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing at our hospital in 2021; the epidemiology of the outbreak suggested an environmental source.

Methods: Available clinical isolates from patient with infection or rectal carriage from 2019 to 2022 were collected.

Molecular analysis and epidemiological typing of Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus outbreak strains.

Outbreaks of multidrug resistant bacteria including vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in healthcare institutions are increasing in Norway, despite a low level of resistance compared to other European countries. In this study, we describe epidemiological relatedness of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolated during an outbreak at a Norwegian hospital in 2012-2013. During the outbreak, 9454 fecal samples were screened for VRE by culture and/or PCR.

Detection of specific IgG antibodies in blood donors and tick-borne encephalitis virus in ticks within a non-endemic area in southeast Norway.

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an emerging tick-borne disease in Europe. In Norway, the first TBE case occurred in 1997, and since then 1-14 cases have been detected annually along the southern coast. No TBE cases have yet been notified from the eastern coastal area.