Hospitalized patients' infections may develop from their own bacteria: Study

Hospitals have strict hygiene and sanitation protocols to protect patients from bacteria that rarely sicken healthy people but can be deadly for vulnerable patients already hospitalized with serious illnesses. Nearly 100,000 people die every year in U.S. hospitals of infections they develop after being admitted. But despite intense infection-control efforts, new strains of bacteria keep on emerging, seemingly out of nowhere, to sicken people in hospitals worldwide.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found evidence pointing to an unexpected source of such bacteria: the hospitalized patients themselves. Studying mice, the researchers discovered that urinary tract infections (UTIs) can arise after sterile tubes, called catheters, are inserted into the urinary tract, even when no bacteria are detectable in the bladder beforehand. Such tubes are commonly used in hospitals to empty the bladders of people undergoing surgery. In the mice, inserting the tubes activated dormant Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii)bacteria hidden in bladder cells, triggering them to emerge, multiply and cause UTIs, the researchers said.

Reference:

Hazen JE, Di Venanzio G, Hultgren SJ, Feldman MF. Catheterization triggers resurgent infection seeded by host Acinetobacter baumannii reservoirs. Science Translational Medicine. Jan. 11, 2023. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn8134