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. 2017 May;18(3):149-153.
doi: 10.1177/1757177416687832. Epub 2017 Feb 8.

Outbreak of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus on a haematology ward: management and control

Diego García Martínez de Artola  1 , Beatriz Castro  1 , María José Ramos  1 , Zaida Díaz Cuevas  1 , Sunil Lakhwani  2 , María Lecuona  1
Affiliations

Outbreak of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus on a haematology ward: management and control

Diego García Martínez de Artola et al. J Infect Prev. 2017 May.

Abstract

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections and outbreaks are still infrequent in Spain. A six-month outbreak, which took place in a haematology ward, its control and management are described in this study. A total of 22 patients were colonised and two bloodstream infections occurred during this period. Even though there were two waves of new colonised patients, a multidisciplinary approach, quick interventions and enhanced infection control policies were required in order to control this outbreak.

Keywords: Antimicrobial drug resistance; Enterococcus; healthcare-associated infections; vancomycin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Outbreak evolution of the new colonised cases and their incidence during six consecutive months. A1, A2 and A3 represent the different subtypes of PFGE patterns found.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Timeline representing movements of the VRE colonised patients in the Haematology Ward. Red dots indicate VRE detection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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