Segal E, Bar Yosef S, Axel A, Keller N, Shlaeffer F, Amir A, Efroni G, Haberman Y. Outbreak of Sepsis Following Surgery: Utilizing 16S RNA Sequencing To Detect the Source of Infection.
Cureus 2022;
14:e22487. [PMID:
35371778 PMCID:
PMC8944214 DOI:
10.7759/cureus.22487]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Nosocomial infections are a significant health concern. Following surgery, infections are most commonly associated with the surgical site, yet there are other potential sources for infections after surgical interventions. Identification of the source of infections can be very challenging.
Methodology
An outbreak of postoperative infections following surgery led to intensive care unit (ICU) admission of patients immediately after the surgical procedure. The blood cultures of two patients were positive for Citrobacter freundii. The only connection between all cases was the anesthesiologist. An epidemiological inquiry could not definitively identify the source of the outbreak. Therefore, we utilized an RNA sequencing technique to evaluate the microbiome of the anesthesiologist and compared the results to bacteria cultured from the bloodstream of the two patients.
Results
The anesthesiologist’s microbiome contained amplicons that were identical to those of the bacteria in the patient’s bloodstream. Because Citrobacter freundii is an uncommon source of bloodstream infections, and in the normal human microbiome, the results establish the source of a cluster of infections to the anesthesiologist.
Conclusions
In cases of nosocomial infections, when conventional microbiological techniques do not clearly establish the source of the infection, using 16S RNA sequencing should be considered.
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