Room humidifiers as the source of Acinetobacter infections.
Twenty-four patients contracted systemic infections with Acinetobacter calcoaceticus during a four-month period. Unheated room humidifiers at the patients' bedsides were implicated as the source of infection in six. The outbreak was terminated with the removal of the humidifers.
D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D000389:Air Conditioning / Q000295:instrumentation; D000391:Air Microbiology; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000382:microbiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000209:etiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology*; D014835:Volatilization