Emerging Infectious Diseases (Oct 2016)

Reemergence of Mycobacterium chimaera in Heater–Cooler Units despite Intensified Cleaning and Disinfection Protocol

  • Peter W. Schreiber,
  • Stefan P. Kuster,
  • Barbara Hasse,
  • Cornelia Bayard,
  • Christian Rüegg,
  • Philipp Kohler,
  • Peter M. Keller,
  • Guido V. Bloemberg,
  • Francesco Maisano,
  • Dominique Bettex,
  • Maximilian Halbe,
  • Rami Sommerstein,
  • Hugo Sax

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2210.160925
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 22, no. 10
pp. 1830 – 1833

Abstract

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Invasive Mycobacterium chimaera infections after open-heart surgery have been reported internationally. These devastating infections result from aerosols generated by contaminated heater–cooler units used with extracorporeal circulation during surgery. Despite intensified cleaning and disinfection, surveillance samples from factory-new units acquired during 2014 grew nontuberculous mycobacteria after a median of 174 days.

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