title: Pseudomonas in the sinks in an intensive care unit: relation to patients.
abstract: Sink drains in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) were cultured during six consecutive weeks as part of a seven month prospective study of acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by ICU patients. Isolates were typed serologically and by aminoglycoside and chlorhexidine susceptibility patterns. All 11 sinks contained multiple strains of P aeruginosa; some strains persisted for weeks while others were isolated once. Of the sink isolates 56% had high level resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin whereas none of the strains found in patients. In sink isolates chlorhexidine resistance correlated with aminoglycoside resistance and with the presence of a chlorhexidine dispenser at a sink. The sequence of recovery of phenotypically similar isolates suggested that sinks were the source of at most two acquisitions of P aeruginosa by patients during the six weeks. Our study confirms that sinks may be reservoirs for large numbers of highly resistant P aeruginosa but are rarely the source of organisms colonising patients in our ICU.
mesh_terms: D000617:Aminoglycosides / Q000494:pharmacology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012498:Sanitary Engineering
chemical_list: D000617:Aminoglycosides; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002710:Chlorhexidine