TY - JOUR AU - Moore, Luke S.P. AU - Owens, Daniel AU - Jepson, Annette AU - Turton, Jane AU - Ashworth, Simon AU - Donaldson, Hugo AU - Holmes, Alison T1 - Waterborne Elizabethkingia meningoseptica in Adult Critical Care T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2016 VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 9 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is an infrequent colonizer of the respiratory tract; its pathogenicity is uncertain. In the context of a 22-month outbreak of E. meningoseptica acquisition affecting 30 patients in a London, UK, critical care unit (3% attack rate) we derived a measure of attributable morbidity and determined whether E. meningoseptica is an emerging nosocomial pathogen. We found monomicrobial E. meningoseptica acquisition (n = 13) to have an attributable morbidity rate of 54% (systemic inflammatory response syndrome >2, rising C-reactive protein, new radiographic changes), suggesting that E. meningoseptica is a pathogen. Epidemiologic and molecular evidence showed acquisition was water-source–associated in critical care but identified numerous other E. meningoseptica strains, indicating more widespread distribution than previously considered. Analysis of changes in gram-negative speciation rates across a wider London hospital network suggests this outbreak, and possibly other recently reported outbreaks, might reflect improved diagnostics and that E. meningoseptica thus is a pseudo-emerging pathogen. KW - Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time of flight KW - intensive care KW - antimicrobial drug resistance KW - water KW - Chryseobacterium meningosepticum KW - Flavobacterium meningosepticum KW - Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight KW - Elizabethkingia meningoseptica KW - United Kingdom KW - adults KW - Antimicrobial Resistance DO - 10.3201/eid2201.150139 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/1/15-0139_article ER - End of Reference