Nosocomial pseudobacteremia. Positive blood cultures due to contaminated benzalkonium antiseptic.

Pseudomonas cepacia or Enterobacter species or both were isolated from blood cultures of 79 patients in a community hospital between April 1971 and March 1972. No common exposures other than venipuncture correlated with positive blood cultures. Pseudomonas cepacia, Enterobacter, and other Gram-negative enteric bacteria were cultured from aqueous benzalkonium chloride used for skin antisepsis prior to ordinary and blood culture venipuncture.

Nosocomial infection with highly resistant, Proteus rettgeri. Report of an epidemic.

Over 22-1/2 months an epidemic of at least 127 cases of nosocomial infection developed from a strain of Proteus rettgeri resistant to all antibiotics commonly tested in hospital laboratories. Although there were at least four cases of septicemia and one related death, the majority of cases consisted of asymptomatic bacteriuria or clinically mild urinary tract infection. Indwelling urinary tract devices and antibiotic therapy were important predisposing factors.

Infectiousness of laryngeal tuberculosis.

Two patients with laryngeal tuberculosis in the absence of extensive pulmonary tuberculosis are presented. In both, tuberculin testing of household members failed to show infectiousness of their disease. This contradicts the commonly held view that laryngeal tuberculosis is invariably highly infectious.