title: A cluster of Bacillus cereus bacteremia cases among injection drug users.
abstract: Bacillus cereus is a ubiquitous spore-forming organism that is infrequently implicated in extraintestinal infections. The authors report three cases of B cereus bacteremia among injection drug users presenting within one month to an urban tertiary care hospital. Treatment with intravenous vancomycin was successful in all three cases. While temporal association suggested an outbreak, molecular studies of patient isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis did not suggest a common source. A review of the association of B cereus infections with heroin use and treatment of this pathogen is provided.
authors.affiliation: Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario;
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Benusic
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, University of British Columbia;
authors.forename: Natasha M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Press
authors.affiliation: BC Public Health Microbiology and Reference Laboratory, Provincial Health Services Authority; ; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia;
authors.forename: Linda Mn
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia; ; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, St Paul's Hospital/Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia.
authors.forename: Marc G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Romney
keywords: Bacillus cereus; Bacteremia; Contamination; Heroin; Injection drug users