Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in Norway : An outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection caused by contaminated Dent-O-Sept mouth swabs and invasive Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in Norway 1992-2002

Abstract

Infections occurring as a result of stay in hospitals are costly for society and cause much suffering in the patients. A sizeable proportion of these hospital acquired infections are preventable. The hospital patient population is changing with more patients being susceptible to opportunistic infections. The Pseudomonas species is ranked among the top ten causes of bacteraemias in hospitals. Medical devices have often been reported to cause outbreaks in hospitals.<br><br>

The overall aims of this thesis were to investigate a large outbreak of Pseudomonas infections and gain knowledge from it, to explore theories for causality and responsibility, and to describe the epidemiology and investigate risk factors for contracting invasive Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.<br><br>

The research originates from a large outbreak of P. aeruginosa infection discovered in 2002 which was caused by a contaminated medical device. From it we explore four areas: 1. the outbreak investigation; 2. the contamination of the medical device involved; 3. theories for causality of the outbreak; and 4. the epidemiology of invasive Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.<br><br>

Although the research in time moved from the specific P. aeruginosa outbreak to explore more general issues the thesis is organised the other way moving from the general to the specific as this gives a better introduction to the subject and is more pedagogical.