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An outbreak of pneumonia and meningitis caused by a previously undescribed Gram-negative bacterium in a hot spring spa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

B. Hubert ,
A. De Mahenge ,
F. Grimont ,
C. Richard ,
Y. Peloux ,
C. De Mahenge ,
J. Fleurette  and
P. A. D. Grimont
B. Hubert
Affiliation:
Direction Générate de la Santé, Bureau des Maladies transmissibles, 1 place Fontenoy, 75350 Paris 07 SP, France,
A. De Mahenge
Affiliation:
Service de Médecine, Centre Hospitalier, Manosque,
F. Grimont
Affiliation:
Unité des entérobactéries, Unité INSERM 199 Institut Pasteur, Paris,
C. Richard
Affiliation:
Unité des entérobactéries, Unité INSERM 199 Institut Pasteur, Paris,
Y. Peloux
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Bactériologie Hôpital de la Conception, Marseille,
C. De Mahenge
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d' Analyses Médicales, Manosque,
J. Fleurette
Affiliation:
Centre National de Réf´rence des Légionelloses, Laboratoire National de la Santé, Lyon
P. A. D. Grimont
Affiliation:
Unité des entérobactéries, Unité INSERM 199 Institut Pasteur, Paris,
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Summary

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An outbreak of infection caused by a previously undescribed Gram-negative bacterium affected people attending a hot (37 °C) spring spa in France in 1987. Thirty-five case of pneumonia and two cases of meningitis occurred. None of these patients died. Attack rates were significantly higher for patients above 70 years old and for male patients. An epidemiological comparison of the 26 hospitalized eases with 52 matched controls suggests that spa treatment early on the first day (OR = 4·8) and attendance at the vapour baths (OR = 10·7) were significant risk factors for acquiring the infection. Person-to-person spread was not thought to have occurred. The same bacterium was isolated from the hot spring water. All strains studied shows a single rRNA gene restriction pattern. Epidemiological data indicated that the thermal water was the source of infection. This outbreak stresses the need for increased surveillance of infections in people attending hot spring spas.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 107 , Issue 2 , October 1991 , pp. 373 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

References

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