Biomaterial Database

Salmonella poona infection and surveillance in a neonatal nursery. 1993

A Stone, and M Shaffer, and R L Sautter

Department of Nursing, Harrisburg Hospital, PA 17101-2099.

BACKGROUND This article reports the first known outbreak of Salmonella poona infection in a neonatal unit. Three babies had stool cultures positive for the organism. At the same time, S. poona was the cause of a nationwide food-borne outbreak associated with contaminated canteloupe. To minimize the neonatal outbreak, surveys were performed and control measures were instituted. METHODS Epidemiologic surveillance included the culture of rectal swabs collected from 48 employees, 18 babies, and four family members of the babies. Control measures used included the placement in cohorts and isolation of infected babies, strict adherence to universal precautions, and the restriction of visitation in the nursery. RESULTS A total of three babies and one employee in the surveillance were found to have Salmonella sp. An additional two hospitalized adult patients had S. poona. Of all the people included in the surveillance, only the three babies were found to have S. poona. The hospital employee had S. enteritidis. CONCLUSIONS Timely culture results, rapid cohort placement of infected babies, and strict adherence to universal precautions led to the successful eradication of the organism.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007231	Infant, Newborn	An infant during the first 28 days after birth.	Neonate,Newborns,Infants, Newborn,Neonates,Newborn,Newborn Infant,Newborn Infants
D007363	Intensive Care Units, Neonatal	Hospital units providing continuing surveillance and care to acutely ill newborn infants.	Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,Neonatal Intensive Care Units,Newborn Intensive Care Unit,Newborn Intensive Care Units,ICU, Neonatal,Neonatal ICU,Newborn ICU,Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU),ICU, Newborn,ICUs, Neonatal,ICUs, Newborn,Neonatal ICUs,Newborn ICUs
D010414	Pennsylvania	State bounded on the north by New York and Lake Erie, on the east by Delaware and New Jersey, on the south by Delaware and Maryland, and on the west by Ohio and West Virginia.
D010564	Personnel, Hospital	The individuals employed by the hospital.	Hospital Personnel
D011159	Population Surveillance	Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.	Surveillance, Population
D004196	Disease Outbreaks	Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.	Outbreaks,Infectious Disease Outbreaks,Disease Outbreak,Disease Outbreak, Infectious,Disease Outbreaks, Infectious,Infectious Disease Outbreak,Outbreak, Disease,Outbreak, Infectious Disease,Outbreaks, Disease,Outbreaks, Infectious Disease
D005243	Feces	Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
D005260	Female		Females
D006769	Hospitals, General	Large hospitals with a resident medical staff which provides continuous care to maternity, surgical and medical patients.	General Hospital,General Hospitals,Hospital, General
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man