Open AccessA sporadic outbreak of Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteremia in pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital in coastal Karnataka, South India
Author(s) -
Beena Antony,
Elsa Cherian,
Rekha Boloor,
K. Varadraj Shenoy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
indian journal of pathology and microbiology/indian journal of pathology and microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.217
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 0974-5130
pISSN - 0377-4929
DOI - 10.4103/0377-4929.182010
Subject(s) - tertiary care , outbreak , burkholderia cepacia complex , burkholderia , bacteremia , medicine , intensive care unit , pediatric intensive care unit , intensive care medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , emergency medicine , biology , antibiotics , virology , bacteria , genetics
Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) is a significant opportunistic pathogen in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients, particularly in cystic fibrosis. It is widely distributed in natural habitats such as soil and water and frequently encountered in nosocomial outbreaks due to contaminated disinfectants and medical devices. However reports on outbreaks due to this organism are lacking from the Indian subcontinent. We report here a sporadic outbreak due to BCC which occurred in the pediatric Intensive Care Unit of our institute, the probable source being contaminated distilled water. The isolate from three babies and environmental sources including distilled water were identical and confirmed as BCC. Strict infection control measures were instituted to prevent the spread of infection. This report highlights the potential role of B.cepacia in causing sporadic outbreaks especially in ICUs, associated with water.