Bacterial outbreak causes 31 infections in a Seattle hospital

(CNN) A Seattle medical middle is reporting 31 confirmed circumstances of a bacterial an infection since October, in accordance a news release from the Virginia Mason Medical Heart. The newest confirmed case was recognized on April 3.

“Starting in October 2022, Virginia Mason Medical Heart detected a rise in circumstances of Klebsiella pneumoniae micro organism at our downtown campus,” Sydney Bersante, Virginia Mason Medical Heart’s interim president stated within the assertion. “We instantly applied elevated security measures, notified sufferers who had examined constructive for the micro organism, and promptly supplied remedy the place vital.”

Bersante added that whereas the “danger of transmission is extraordinarily low for sufferers,” the medical middle is investigating the supply of transmission and is taking precautions to stop extra circumstances.

Klebsiella is a sort of micro organism that lives within the intestines that may result in sicknesses in well being care settings equivalent to pneumonia and meningitis in addition to bloodstream, wound or surgical web site infections, in accordance with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In healthcare settings, Klebsiella infections generally happen amongst sick sufferers who’re receiving remedy for different situation,” the CDC stated.

Sufferers in a well being care facility could also be uncovered to Klebsiella micro organism by way of person-to-person contact or by way of ventilators or intravenous catheters, in accordance with the CDC.

The Seattle and King County public well being division is “working carefully” with the medical middle to handle the outbreak.

“Some of these outbreaks are advanced, and regardless of thorough investigation, we could by no means know the supply,” stated Dr. Eric Chow, chief of communicable illness epidemiology and immunization for Public Well being — Seattle & King County, within the information launch from the hospital.

CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.