Transmission of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus in a neonatal intensive care unit.
An outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus transmission in our neonatal intensive care unit persisted despite strict contact precautions and cohorting of colonized neonates and their caregivers. After terminal cleaning was performed, incubators were found to harbor the neonates' clone of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. Transmission ceased after cohorting of incubators, suggesting the effectiveness of infection control measures targeting environmental contamination.
Golan
Yoav
Y
Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. ygolan@tufts.nemc.org
Doron
Shira
S
Sullivan
Bernadette
B
Snydman
David R
DR
D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007186:Incubators, Infant / Q000382:microbiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance