Genomic testing uncovered a possible outbreak in a Queensland hospital before it started, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Sequencing-based testing uncovered a number of infants in the neonatal unit who harbored ceftriaxone-resistant Klebsiella, though they did not appear sick. As they report in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital's Patrick Harris and his colleagues set out to trace the source of the infection. Environmental samples they collected implicated multiple detergent dispensing bottles that were used to clean the babies' feeding bottles.
"They were cleaning the milk bottle teats in the sinks, and they were getting contaminated there, so the items looked clean, but they were actually being contaminated with bacteria," Harris tells the Herald. "And then as soon as they got rid of the detergent and cleaned up the sinks, the outbreak stopped."