Cluster of Candida parapsilosis primary bloodstream infection in a neonatal intensive care unit

• Main Authors: Silva Carmem Lúcia P. da, Santos Rosana M. R. dos, Colombo Arnaldo Lopes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2001-01-01
• Series: Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Candidemia; nosocomial infections; neonate
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702001000100005

Candida parapsilosis is an increasingly important bloodstream pathogen in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). We investigated a cluster of bloodstream infections in a NICU to determine whether nosocomial transmission occurred. During a 3-day period, 3 premature infants hospitalized in the same unit presented with sepsis caused by C. parapsilosis. Electrophoretic karyotype of the organisms was performed by using pulsed field gel electrophoresis in a countour-clamped homogeneous electric field system. The isolate from 1 newborn could not be typed, and the isolates from the remaining 2 infants had identical patterns. All 3 cases are described. We conclude that nosocomial transmission of C. parapsilosis occurred and that neonates under intensive care may represent a risk group for this pathogen.