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Risk of transmission of imipenem-resistantPseudomonas aeruginosa through use of mobile bathing service

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine volume 11, pages 31–37 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives

The demand for mobile bathing service (MBS) is increasing in the Japanese society. Therefore, we assessed the risk of MBS-associated infection in MBS clients and their caregivers by examining the bacterial colonization of MBS equipment and utensils.

Methods

Bacterial isolates collected by the stamp agar culture method were examined by disk diffusion assay for their susceptibility to the following drugs: imipenem, ciprofloxacin, amikacin, azutreonam, ceftazidim, meropenem, piperacillin, tobramycin, ofloxacin and cefoperazone. Furthermore, these isolates were subtyped bySpeI-pulsed field gel electrophoresis (SpeI-PFGE).

Results

Fifty-fourP. aeruginosa isolates were recovered from different sampling sites, and of these, 26 (47.3%) were isolated from pillows. Eighteen isolates (33.3%) were imipenem (IPM) resistant. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 17 isolates were between 16 and 32 μg/ml, and the MIC of one isolate was greater than 32 μg/ml. TheSpeI-PFGE typing of IPM-resistant isolates revealed that 13 of the 18 isolates were closely related (F=1.0–0.87).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that MBS equipment and utensils, particularly pillows, are the primary sources of bacterial contamination and transmission and that there is a risk of MBS-mediated infection among MBS clients and their caregivers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Medical Sciences School of Health Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, 4669-2 Ami, 300-0394, Inashiki, Ibaraki, Japan

    Naomi Sakurai-Komada, Masako Hirano, Ikumi Nagata, Yumi Ejima, Michiko Nakamura & Kazuko A. Koike

Authors
  1. Naomi Sakurai-Komada
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  2. Masako Hirano
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  3. Ikumi Nagata
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  4. Yumi Ejima
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  5. Michiko Nakamura
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  6. Kazuko A. Koike
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Correspondence to Naomi Sakurai-Komada.

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Sakurai-Komada, N., Hirano, M., Nagata, I. et al. Risk of transmission of imipenem-resistantPseudomonas aeruginosa through use of mobile bathing service. Environ Health Prev Med 11, 31–37 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02898205

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02898205

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Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine

ISSN: 1347-4715

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