Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T09:59:54.752Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Outbreak of Fatal Nosocomial Infections Due to Group A Streptococcus on a Medical Ward

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

L. Ramage ,
K. Green ,
D. Pyskir  and
A.E. Simor
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Group A streptococcus is an uncommon but important cause of nosocomial infections. Outbreaks of infection most often have occurred in surgical or obstetrical patients. We describe an outbreak of severe group A streptococcal infections that occurred on a medical unit of a community hospital. Within an 8-day period, three patients developed fatal nosocomial skin and soft-tissue infection due to group A streptococcus. Three nurses who had provided care to one or more of these patients subsequently developed strepto-coccal pharyngitis, and three other nurses were treated with antibiotics for pharyngitis (cultures not obtained). Patient isolates were serotype M-nontypeable, T-11, opacity factor-positive, and shared identical DNA profiles when typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; staff isolates were not available for typing. To prevent further spread of infection, the ward was closed to new admissions, and symptomatic staff were treated with antibiotics and relieved of patient-care duties. This outbreak demonstrates the ability of group A streptococcus to spread rapidly in a hospital setting and to cause severe life-threatening disease in hospitalized patients.

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 17 , Issue 7 , July 1996 , pp. 429 - 431
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Schaffner, W, Lefkowitz, LB, Goodman, JS, Koenig, MG. Hospital outbreak of infections with group A streptococci traced to an asymptomatic anal carrier. N Engl J Med 1969;280:1224–1225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Stamm, WE, Feeley, JC, Facklam, RR. Wound infections due to group A streptococcus traced to a vaginal carrier. J Infect Dis 1978;138:287–292.Google Scholar
3. Berkelman, RL, Martin, D, Graham, DR, et al. Streptococcal wound infections caused by a vaginal carrier. JAMA 1982;247:2680–2682.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Mastro, TD, Farley, TA, Elliott, JA, et al. An outbreak of surgical-wound infections due to group A streptococcus carried on the scalp. N Engl J Med 1990;323:968–972.Google Scholar
5. Viglionese, A, Nottebart, VF, Bodman, HA, Platt, R. Recurrent group A streptococcal carriage in a healthcare worker associated with widely separated nosocomial outbreaks. Am J Med 1991;91(suppl 3B):329S–333S.Google Scholar
6. Garner, JS, Jarvis, WR, Emori, TG, et al. CDC definitions for nosocomial infections, 1988. Am J Infect Control 1988;16:128–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Swift, HF, Wilson, AT, Lancefield, RC. Typing group A hemolytic streptococci by M precipitin reactions in capillary pipettes. J Exp Med 1943;78:127–133.Google Scholar
8. Murray, BE, Singh, KV, Health, JD, et al. Comparison of genomic DNAs of different enterococcal isolates using restriction endonucleases with infrequent recognition sites. J Clin Microbiol 1990;28:2059–2063.Google Scholar
9. Isenberg, HD, Tucci, V, Lipsitz, P, Facklam, RR. Clinical laboratory and epidemiologic investigations of a Streptococcus pyogenes cluster epidemic in a newborn nursery. J Clin Microbiol 1984;19:366–370.Google Scholar
10. Schwartz, B, Elliott, JA, Butler, JC, et al. Clusters of invasive group A streptococcal infections in family, hospital, and nursing home settings. Clin Infect Dis 1992;15:277–284.Google Scholar
11. Lannigan, R, Hussain, Z, Austin, TW. Streptococcus pyogenes as a cause of nosocomial infection in a critical care unit. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 1985;3:337–341.Google Scholar
12. Crossley, K. Streptococci. In: Mayhall, CG, ed. Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins; 1996.Google Scholar