Nosocomial Stenotrophomonas maltophilia cross-infection: Three cases in newborns

Background Increased nosocomial Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infection rates in newborns, especially in recent years, are a significant cause for concern. These cases are the second case group in the literature to have been identified as nosocomial cross-infection with S maltophilia in neonates. Objective To investigate the clinical, microbiological, and epidemiologic features of the outbreak caused by S maltophilia in the neonatal intensive care unit within a period of 7 days. Methods Three cases with nosocomial S maltophilia infection considered to be the result of cross-transmission were prospectively analyzed. Arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) performed with M13 primer and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of genomic DNA after digestion with XbaI were used to determine clonal relationship among the isolates. Results S maltophilia was isolated from the blood cultures of all 3 patients. Molecular typing confirmed that the 3 cases were epidemiologically linked. Conclusions Opportunistic pathogens such as S maltophila can lead to major problems in neonates. Molecular typing is helpful to improve effective control programs for preventing the spread of the infection.