Ralstonia pickettii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bloodstream Infections Associated With Contaminated Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Water Heater Devices

Meghan A Baker; Chanu Rhee; Robert Tucker; Vineeta Vaidya; Meghan Holtzman; Raghu R Seethala; Maria Bentain-Melanson; Jesslyn Lenox; Adam R Smith; Allison Gassett; Miriam Huntley; Mohamad Sater; Karen Reilly; Michael Klompas

doi:10.1093/cid/ciac379

Ralstonia pickettii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bloodstream Infections Associated With Contaminated Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Water Heater Devices

Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Nov 14;75(10):1838-1840. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac379.

Authors

Meghan A Baker^{1

2

3}, Chanu Rhee^{1

2}, Robert Tucker², Vineeta Vaidya², Meghan Holtzman², Raghu R Seethala², Maria Bentain-Melanson², Jesslyn Lenox², Adam R Smith², Allison Gassett², Miriam Huntley⁴, Mohamad Sater⁴, Karen Reilly², Michael Klompas^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Infection Control Department, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Day Zero Diagnostics Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

PMID: 35594555
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciac379

Abstract

We report on probable factory-based contamination of portable water heaters with waterborne pathogens and 2 bloodstream infections potentially attributable to off-label use of these water heaters to warm extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuits. Great caution is warranted when using water-based devices to care for critically ill patients.

Keywords: Pseudomonas; Ralstonia; ECMO; water heater.

MeSH terms

Bacteremia*
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation*
Humans
Pseudomonas Infections*
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Ralstonia pickettii*
Water

Substances

Water