Engineering waterborne Pseudomonas aeruginosa out of a critical care unit

Objective: To describe engineering and holistic interventions on water outlets contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the observed impact on clinical P. aeruginosa patient isolates in a large Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Design: Descriptive study.

Setting: Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB), part of University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Foundation Trust is a tertiary referral teaching hospital in Birmingham, UK and provides clinical services to nearly 1 million patients every year.

Methods: Breakpoint models were used to detect any significant changes in the cumulative yearly rates of clinical P. aeruginosa patient isolates from August 2013-December 2016 across QEHB.

Results: Water sampling undertaken on the ICU indicated 30% of the outlets were positive for P. aeruginosa at any one time. Molecular typing of patient and water isolates via Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis suggested there was a 30% transmission rate of P. aeruginosa from the water to patients on the ICU. From, February 2014, QEHB implemented engineering interventions, consisting of new tap outlets and PALL point-of-use filters; as well as holistic measures, from February 2016 including a revised tap cleaning method and appropriate disposal of patient waste water. Breakpoint models indicated the engineering and holistic interventions resulted in a significant (p<0.001) 50% reduction in the number of P. aeruginosa clinical patient isolates over a year.

Conclusion: Here we demonstrate that the role of waterborne transmission of P. aeruginosa in an ICU cannot be overlooked. We suggest both holistic and environmental factors are important in reducing transmission.