An Australia-wide epidemic of Pseudomonas pickettii bacteraemia due to contaminated 'sterile' water for injection

Nineteen cases of Pseudomonas pickettii bacteraemia and one case of Pseudomonas cepacia bacteraemia were identified in an Australia-wide outbreak of nosocomial sepsis associated with contaminated water for injection. The contamination was limited to one batch of commercially produced water for injection. Four different organisms were identified (three biotypes of P. pickettii and one of P. cepacia). However, P. pickettii biotype 1 appeared to be relatively more virulent than the other biotypes as it was the only identified organism in blood cultures in nearly all cases of sepsis. The ampoules of "sterile" water were each contaminated with approximately 10(3) organisms per millilitre. The lack of an Australian central reporting system for bacteraemia delayed the recognition of this outbreak.