A Methodology for Investigating Aerosolization of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria From Contaminated Heater Cooler Devices

Frontiers in Water

Kelly A. Bauer¹  Nicole Gillette¹  Narges Abdali¹  David Wolloscheck¹  Catherine Wentz¹  Suvajyoti Guha²  Jon W. Weeks² 

[1] Office of Product Evaluation, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States;Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States;

关键词: heater cooler devices;    Mycobacterium chimaera;    NTM;    bioaerosols;    Mycobacterium smegmatis;    hospital associated infections;   

DOI  :  10.3389/frwa.2022.902872

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Aerosols inadvertently generated by the bubbling of contaminated water in heater cooler devices (HCDs) have been associated with hundreds of patient infections. These aerosols are typically generated by bubbling within the water tanks of HCDs that subsequently escape from the device leading to contamination of the operating room and potentially infect patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. Although these infections are now well-reported in literature, very little research has been done to understand the influence of bubbling frequencies, differences in aerosolization across various species of bacteria, sampling methodologies, infectious dose, etc. Here we report on the development of a miniaturized bubbler with a footprint much smaller than HCDs, that will enable academic researchers and HCD developers to investigate these parameters. Using this bubbler, we found that the aerosolization potential of slow growing Mycobacterium chimaera is about one hundred-fold more (p < 0.05) compared to rapid growing M. smegmatis for low inoculum concentrations (≤106 CFU/mL), underscoring the need for using clinically relevant M. chimaera for evaluating the aerosolization potential of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from HCDs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown