EPIDEMIOLOGIC - APPLICATION OF PULSED-FIELD GEL-ELECTROPHORESIS TO ANOUTBREAK OF CAMPYLOBACTER-FETUS MENINGITIS IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

An outbreak of nosocomial Campylobacter fetus meningitis occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Eight C. fetus strains were isol ated from 4 infants with meningitis, the mother of the index patient a nd 2 infants who were asymptomatic intestinal carriers. The pulsed-fie ld gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns with the restriction endonuclea ses SmaI and SalI were found to be identical for the nosocomial C. fet us isolates, but the patterns were different from those of sporadic st rains. These nosocomial strains were strongly suspected to be a single strain. The finding revealed that the index patient was infected by t he mother, and that the outbreak developed from this patient by cross- infection. This is the first confirmed nosocomial C. fetus meningitis outbreak spread by cross-infection in a NICU.