Nosocomial Outbreak of <i>Ralstonia pickettii</i> Infections Likely Linked to Saline Solutions in Germany from August 2023 to March 2024-Challenges in Medical Product-Related Outbreaks.

ABSTRACT: In December 2023, the World Health Organization reported an Australian nosocomial Ralstonia pickettii outbreak caused by contaminated saline solutions, causing bloodstream infections. The Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance, a Germany-wide laboratory network, has identified five R. pickettii-bacteraemia cases since August 2023 (0-1 annually 2019-2022), prompting an outbreak investigation to identify the source. We defined a case as a person with R. pickettii in any material (possible) or in blood culture (probable), confirmed if in the genetic outbreak cluster. We implemented nationwide R. pickettii surveillance, subjected isolates to core genome multilocus sequence typing, and compared cases by exposure, including medical products. From August 2023 to June 2024,

SUBMITTER: Sandfort M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12472745 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature