Aspergillus surveillance project at a large tertiary-care hospital

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baker K ; Cali S ; Conroy L ; Curtis L ; Hershow R ; Norlock-Cruz F ; Ou C-H ; Scheff P
• Description:
  A one-year surveillance project was conducted at a large tertiary hospital, which had extensive indoor renovation and extensive demolition/building at several nearby sites. This study collected viable fungi samples in the hospital every six days and analysed 74 duct dust samples for Aspergillus fumigatus mycelial asp f1 protein. Mean total fungi were 257.8 cfu/m3 outdoors, 53.2 cfu/m3 in all indoor samples and 83.5 cfu/m3 in the bone marrow transplant patient rooms. Mean total aspergillus was 6.8 cfu/m3 outdoors, 12.1 cfu/m3 in all indoor samples and 7.3 cfu/m3 in the bone marrow transplant patient rooms. The five most prevalent Aspergillus species collected inside the hospital (mean cfu/m3) were Aspergillus niger 7.57 cfu/m3, Aspergillus candidus 1.72 cfu/m3, Aspergillus flavus 0.97 cfu/m3, A. fumigatus 0.88 cfu/m3 and Aspergillus glaucus 0.45 cfu/m3. In rooms undergoing duct cleaning, mean A. fumigatus concentrations were 11.0 cfu/m3. Forty-eight of 74 (65%) duct dust samples had measurable levels of asp f1 protein, with a mean level of 0.41 ppm and maximum level of 1.94 ppm. Three major incidents involved increased hospital aspergillus concentrations. A. niger levels reached 680 cfu/m3 in an organ transplant room after a water leak from a ceiling pipe. Total aspergillus concentrations rose to 77 cfu/m3 in a bone marrow transplant patient room after improper sealing and water infiltration of the unit's dedicated high-efficiency particulate air filter system. Total aspergillus levels of 160 cfu/m3 were recorded in a renovation area during wood cutting. The higher concentrations of aspergillus seen inside the hospital compared with outdoors and the various moisture/HEPA filter/renovation incidents suggest that numerous small to moderate sources of aspergillus exist in the hospital. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Communicable Diseases Dust Filtration Fungi Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Microbiology Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Ventilation

  More +
• Keywords:
  Aspergillosis Asp F1 Author Keywords: Aspergillus Dust-exposure Dust-particles Fungal-diseases Fungal-infections Hospital Infections Humans Indoor-air-pollution Infection-control Medical-facilities Microorganisms Particulate-dust Particulates Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders

  More +
• ISSN:
  0195-6701
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  188-196
• Volume:
  59
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039025
• Citation:
  J Hosp Infect 2005 Mar; 59(3):188-196
• Contact Point Address:
  L. Curtis; Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612
• Email:
  lukec@uic.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19930701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Hospital Infection
• End Date:
  20030630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cbb0f6d108c972eca920c6dfc08478be19833ffbcefda7bb6f6fca839d4f101bc17d400df7ffc164069297d975f01d0250e86f25dd0d08526523b2bd87958436
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192521/cdc_192521_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 174.52 KB ]