“It is not exceptional for a hospital to have a [hospital-originating] infection,” Tara Palmore, MD, hospital epidemiologist at the Clinical Center and one of the lead authors of a study on the incident, told STAT. “They occur in every hospital.”
The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found 12 patients were infected with Sphingomonas koreensis from 2006 through 2016. The researchers speculate that the antibiotic-resistant bacteria lived in the pipes as early as 2004 and potentially were left over from previous construction.
Researchers also indicated the NIH’s hospital was aware of the Sphingomonas bacteria after six more patients at the Clinical Center showed similar symptoms. Four additional patients were infected with the disease and three of them died.
Researchers are unsure if the Sphingomonas is the only factor that killed the patients or if there is another cause. Most of the patients killed underwent a stem cell transplant, which can leave patients “vulnerable to infections,” according to STAT.
More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:
CDC: 182 confirmed AFM cases in 2018 so far
New York hospital under investigation for potential Legionella cases
Miami Transplant Institute performs rare 5-organ transplant
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