Outbreak of nosocomial Burkholderia cepacia infection and colonization associated with intrinsically contaminated mouthwash.

From August 1996 through June 1998, 69 ventilated, intensive care unit patients at two Arizona hospitals had nosocomial respiratory tract cultures positive for Burkholderia cepacia. Intrinsically contaminated alcohol-free mouthwash was identified by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis as the source of the outbreak.

Outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ventriculitis among patients in a neurosurgical intensive care unit.

Objective: To determine the cause of an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cerebral ventriculitis among eight patients at a community hospital neurosurgical intensive care unit. All had percutaneous external ventricular catheters (EVCs) to monitor cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure.

Methods: Cohort study of all patients who had EVCs placed during the epidemic period (August 8-October 22, 1997).

More than 10 years of unrecognized nosocomial transmission of legionnaires' disease among transplant patients.

Objective: To investigate a cluster of cases of legionnaires' disease among patients at a hospital.

Setting: A university hospital that is a regional transplant center.

Design: Retrospective review of microbiology and serology data from the hospital laboratories and prospective surveillance via the radiology department; a case-control study and environmental sampling within the hospital and from nearby cooling towers.

Assessment of occupational risk for hantavirus infection in Arizona and New Mexico.

Differentiating occupational exposure from other potential domestic or recreational exposure(s) for Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infection is an epidemiologic challenge. Interviews on work-related activities were conducted, and serum specimens were obtained from 494 workers in Arizona and New Mexico. These workers may have been exposed to rodents and rodent excreta at work, but their primary occupation did not require rodent contact (National Park Service [n = 193]; Navajo Agricultural Product Industry [n = 65], utility companies [n = 169] and plumbing and heating contractors [n = 67].

Epidemiologic linkage of rodent and human hantavirus genomic sequences in case investigations of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Sin Nombre virus (SNV) causes the zoonotic disease hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Its mechanisms of transmission from rodent to human are poorly understood. It is possible that specific genetic signature sequences could be used to determine the probable site of each case-patient's exposure.