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An Outbreak of Group A Streptococcal Bacteremia in an Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

L.E. Nicolle ,
K. Hume ,
H. Sims ,
T. Rosenal  and
D. Sandham
L.E. Nicolle*
Affiliation:
Office of Infection Control, The Intensive Care Unit, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratories, Calgary General Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
K. Hume
Affiliation:
Office of Infection Control, The Intensive Care Unit, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratories, Calgary General Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
H. Sims
Affiliation:
Office of Infection Control, The Intensive Care Unit, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratories, Calgary General Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T. Rosenal
Affiliation:
Office of Infection Control, The Intensive Care Unit, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratories, Calgary General Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
D. Sandham
Affiliation:
Office of Infection Control, The Intensive Care Unit, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Division of Microbiology, Department of Laboratories, Calgary General Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
*
Office of Infection Control, Calgary General Hospital, 841 Center Avenue East, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 0A1
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Abstract

Admission of a patient with group A streptococcal cellulitis and bacteremia to the intensive care unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital was followed by two subsequent cases of group A streptococcal bacteremia with pneumonia in the unit. All streptococcal isolates were the same M- and T-type. Endotracheal intubation with respiratory ventilation was a risk factor for disease acquisition. The characteristics of onset of the two nosocomially acquired cases suggested that a staff member may have been, at least transiently, a streptococcal carrier, but no such carrier was identified. No further cases occurred subsequent to a period when all patients in the unit received antibiotics effective for group A streptococcal therapy.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , March 1986 , pp. 177 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1986

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