1. Investigating transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus amongst children in an Australian cystic fibrosis centre
- Author
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Andrew J Daley, Elena Martinez, Kareena Johnson, Nicky Teese, Ajay Kevat, John Massie, Sarath Ranganathan, Jo Harrison, and Jennifer Yan
- Subjects
Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Cystic Fibrosis ,Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous ,Mycobacterium abscessus ,Disease cluster ,Cystic fibrosis ,03 medical and health sciences ,Emerging pathogen ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal medicine ,Epidemiology ,Electronic Health Records ,Humans ,Medicine ,Infection control ,Child ,Cross Infection ,Health Services Needs and Demand ,Infection Control ,Whole Genome Sequencing ,biology ,business.industry ,Transmission (medicine) ,Medical record ,Australia ,Hospitals, Pediatric ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,030104 developmental biology ,030228 respiratory system ,Epidemiological Monitoring ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,bacteria ,Female ,business - Abstract
Mycobacterium abscessus is an emerging pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. Hospital transmission of M. abscessus has been described. This paper details the investigation into possible cross-transmission of M. abscessus locally at our paediatric hospital CF centre, and the subsequent infection control response.Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of M. abscessus respiratory isolates with epidemiological linkage analysis using hospital electronic medical records.6.7% (22/328) of CF patients had M. abscessus isolated from respiratory specimens. WGS revealed a cluster of three patients with genomically related isolates that differed by7 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), suggesting a shared recent ancestor and probable cross-transmission. Epidemiological investigation revealed multiple potential crossovers between patients with genomically similar M. abscessus isolates.Cross-infection of NTM occurs in CF hospital patients. Hospital infection control practices should be upgraded to reflect this. Consensus is needed between centres.
- Published
- 2020
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