Epidemiologic Study of Enterobacteriaceae Infection of Nursery Room

Choi, Byung Zoo; Kim, Hae Sook; Kim, In Ho; Lee, Myung Sook; Chung, Churl Young

Abstract

We found enterobacteriaceae in throat culture of premature infants in our nursery who showed poor appetite, poor activity and irregular weight gain and was diagnosed as having respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia from May 1980 to August 1980. At this time we also found enterobacteriaceae in throat cultures of three normal newborns whose each age was at 1 hr old, 20 hrs old and 8 days old. So we started epidemiologic study which consisted of microbial culture of nursery room, delivery room, operation room and personnel of nursery. We found proteus vulgaris from a cockroach which was found at our nursery accidentally, but this was not the same species which was found at premature baby. We found normal throat flora at the culture of throat of personnel of nursery room. In hand culture of 21 nursery room personnel, coagulase negative staphylococcus epidermidis was found which colony count was 1-17 in 16 personnel at 1st culture, 1-35 in 11 personnel at 2nd culture before hand washing with Physohex solution, and 1-25 in 13 personnel at 1st culture, 3-14 in 3 personnel at 2nd culture after hand washing with Physohex solution. we did not found the origin of enterobacteriaceae but suspect that the prevalence of enterobacteriaceae in our nursery room was by the hands of personnel in nursery room.