title: Endemic contamination of clinical specimens by Mycobacterium gordonae.
abstract: Contamination of clinical specimens by Mycobacterium gordonae is a significant endemic problem in many laboratories. To investigate this problem, 84 cases at 1 hospital were retrospectively identified during 20 months. The overall rate of specimen contamination was 2. 4%, and 72 of the contaminated specimens were respiratory. A case-control comparison showed that the risk of respiratory specimen contamination was significantly increased if the specimen was expectorated (odds ratio [OR], 3.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1. 36-9.50) or if the patient consumed fluids within 2 days before specimen collection (OR, 8.92; 95% CI, 1.40-71.20). Cultures of tap water, ice, and iced drinking water all yielded M. gordonae at 10(-2)-10(0) cfu/mL. A culture survey of consenting patients showed contamination of 8 (24%) of 34 sputum specimens collected immediately after a tap water mouth rinse. These findings demonstrate that endemic specimen contamination arises from mycobacteria in hospital tap water and provide a foundation for control efforts.
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Program and Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, University of Chicago Hospital, and the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637-1470, USA. parnow@mcis.bsd.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Arnow
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bakir
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003470:Culture Media; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000382:microbiology*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media