title: Nosocomial aspergillosis is waterborne.
abstract: Nosocomial invasive aspergillosis can cause life-threatening infections among immunosuppressed patients and is thought to be primarily airborne. Despite the use of appropriate hospital air filtration systems, however, the incidence of this infection continues to increase. In this article, we present our hypothesis, which is that nosocomial aspergillosis can be airborne from a water source in the hospital. If confirmed by ongoing studies, this hypothesis would imply a change in the current infection control practices aimed at preventing nosocomial aspergillosis.
authors.affiliation: Myeloma and Transplantation Research Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. anaissieeliasj@exchange.uams.edu
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Anaissie
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply