title: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Pseudo-outbreak at a University Hospital Bronchoscopy Unit in Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen found predominantly in the environment and hospital setting. Invasive procedures and treatment methods, instruments used for diagnosis and irrational antibiotic use play major roles in the spread of this pathogen. The study aimed to evaluate consecutive S maltophilia isolation from bronchoalveolar lavage samples during bronchoscopy procedure during a week.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four patients consecutively had S maltophilia isolated during bronchoscopy between September 8 and 15, 2012. The identification of the isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility were studied by automated Vitek version 2.0 (Biomerieux, France) system. The clonal relationship between the isolates was studied by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four consecutive S maltophilia isolates had identical band patterns and showed clonal relatedness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bronchoscopy is a common invasive procedure that is utilized in chest diseases departments and intensive care units (ICUs). Contamination may take place due to inappropriate use and cause spread of infectious pathogens. In the current study, we detected consecutive S maltophilia strains with identical band patterns isolated within a week. After appropriate disinfection and cleaning procedures, no further isolation was detected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Izmir University School of Medicine,Yeni Girne Boulevard, 1825th Street, 12 Karsiyaka, Izmir, Turkey. gulfem.ece@gmail.com.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ece
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Ege University School of Pharmacy, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Erac
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Ege University School of Pharmacy, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Limoncu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Izmir University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baysak
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Izmir University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Oz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Surgery, Izmir University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Ceylan