Does marking as sterile mean really sterile? Stenotrophomonas maltophilia outbreak caused by a blood-gas injector containing liquid heparin

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2023 Oct;44(10):1683-1685. doi: 10.1017/ice.2023.12. Epub 2023 Feb 13.

Abstract

An outbreak investigation was initiated after detecting an increase in the number of patients with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bloodstream infections (SM-BSIs) througout the hospital. S. maltophilia was isolated from the cultures of blood-gas ınjectors containing liquid heparin. The incidence density of SM-BSIs decreased significantly after prohibiting the use of those injectors.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections* / drug therapy
  • Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections* / epidemiology
  • Heparin
  • Humans
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Sepsis* / epidemiology
  • Southeastern United States / epidemiology
  • Stenotrophomonas maltophilia*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Heparin