1. The toilet as a transmission vector of vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
- Author
-
Noble MA, Isaac-Renton JL, Bryce EA, Roscoe DL, Roberts FJ, Walker M, Scharf S, Walsh A, Altamirano-Dimas M, and Gribble M
- Subjects
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bacterial Typing Techniques, British Columbia, DNA Primers, Fatal Outcome, Female, Hospitals, Teaching, Humans, Male, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Cross Infection transmission, Disease Reservoirs, Drug Resistance, Microbial, Enterococcus isolation & purification, Infection Control, Toilet Facilities, Vancomycin
- Abstract
An elderly woman, admitted to the intensive care unit of a large university teaching hospital, was found to be colonized with vancomycin-resistant enterococci leading to the temporary closure of the unit. She had acquired the organism nosocomially, most likely from an environmental source, which had been contaminated when the toilet of a former patient, also colonized with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, had become blocked and overflowed throughout his and the adjoining room. This is the first report of a hospital toilet as the transmission vector for vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
- Published
- 1998
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