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Patients in the Intensive Care Unit are Exposed to Amoeba-Associated Pathogens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Bernard La Scola ,
Liazyd Mezi ,
Jean-Pierre Auffray ,
Yvon Berland  and
Didier Raoult
Bernard La Scola
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, Marseille, France
Liazyd Mezi
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, Marseille, France
Jean-Pierre Auffray
Affiliation:
Département d'anesthésie réanimation, Hôpital de Ste Marguerite, Marseille, France
Yvon Berland
Affiliation:
Service de Néphrologie-Hémodialyse, Hôpital de la Conception, Marseille, France
Didier Raoult*
Affiliation:
Unité des Rickettsies, Marseille, France
*
Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France
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Abstract

Objective:

To study the role of amoeba-associated alpha Proteobacteria as infecting agents in intensive care units (ICUs).

Design:

Amoeba-associated alpha Proteobacteria were isolated from water samples taken from ICU taps and general hospital reservoir tanks using an amoebal co-culture procedure. Isolates were identified by 16S rDNA gene sequence comparison, and one isolate of each species was used as an antigen in a microimmunofluorescence assay to test the sera of the patients in the ICUs and compare them with those of control subjects.

Setting:

The four university hospitals in Marseilles, France.

Patients:

The sera of 85 patients in the ICUs with nosocomial pneumonia were tested.

Results:

We isolated 64 bacterial strains that were identified as Afipia species or close relatives within the Rhizobiaceae subgroup of alpha Proteobacteria. These bacteria were assigned to 8 different species. Eleven patients were found to have an elevated antibody titer to either Afipia genospecies 1, or 3 still unnamed bacteria. No specific antibodies were detected in 100 control subjects (P<.01).

Conclusion:

These preliminary results support the hypothesis that ICU patients are exposed to amoeba-associated alpha Proteobacteria.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 23 , Issue 8 , August 2002 , pp. 462 - 465
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2002

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