Volume 26, Number 8—August 2020
Dispatch
Spread of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria by Moth Flies from Hospital Waste Water System
Thomas Rupprecht1, Annette Moter, Alexandra Wiessener, Joerg Reutershan, Klaus Lang-Schwarz, Michael Vieth, Christian Rupprecht, Ruediger Wagner, and Thomas Bollinger1
Table 1
Occurrence of moth flies in a hospital, Germany*
| No. | Psychodidae larvae/eggs | Count† | Type of room (comment) | Floor‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adult | 1 | Sewage line service opening (under OR 1) | −4 |
| 2 | Larvae and eggs | >100 | Sewage line service opening (200 m distant from OR 1) | −4 |
| 3 | Adult | >50 | OR 7§ | −3 |
| 4 | Adult | >500 | Washroom, OR 7 | −3 |
| 5 | Adult | >50 | Corridor, OR 7 | −3 |
| 6 | Adult | >50 | Supply rooms for OR 7 | −3 |
| 7 | Adult | 3 | Corridor connecting ORs 1–6 | −3 |
| 8 | Adult | 1 | Corridor to ICU 58 | −3 |
| 9 | Adult | >20 | Toilet (A3–40) | −3 |
| 10 | Adult | >5 | Doctor’s room (A3–43) St 35 | −3 |
| 11 | Adult | >10 | Toilet (G3–58) | −3 |
| 12 | Adult | >10 | OR dermatology (B3–61) | −3 |
| 13 | Adult | >500 | Washing room G3–62 | −3 |
| 14 | Adult | >500 | Toilet A3–06 | −3 |
| 15 | Adult | >5 | Supply room (A3–41) | −3 |
| 16 | Adult and eggs | >500 (>100 eggs) | Shower (F3–07) St 35 | −3 |
| 17 | Adult | >500 | Shower floor 35 (F3–31), patient room and corridor | −3 |
| 18 | Adult | >10 | Bathroom floor 34 (E3–07) | −3 |
| 19 | Adult | >10 | Shower floor 34 (E3–08) | −3 |
| 20 | Adult | >10 | Clean supply room floor 34 (E3–01) | −3 |
| 21 | Adult | >10 | Kitchen floor 34 (E3–02) | −3 |
| 22 | Adult | >10 | Staff room floor 34 (E3–04) | −3 |
| 23 | Adult | >10 | Doctor‘s room floor 34 (E3–05) | −3 |
| 24 | Adult | >5 | ICU floor 58 W3001 | −3 |
| 25 | Adult | 3 | OR 12 heart surgery¶ | −3 |
| 26 | Adult | >500 | Sluice to hospital kitchen (S2–20) | −2 |
| 27 | Adult | >500 | Hospital kitchen toilets (S2–20a, b) | −2 |
| 28 | Adult | >10 | Supply room emergency department (R1–52) | −1 |
| 29 | Adult | >10 | Kitchen emergency department (R1–57) | −1 |
| 30 | Adult | >10 | Toilet emergency department (R1–55) | −1 |
| 31 | Adult | >10 | Patient rooms emergency department | −1 |
Patient numbers correspond to the numbers in Table 2 and Figure 1, panel C. ICU, intensive care unit; OR, operating room; St, suite.
†Count of Psychodidae larvae and adult flies during June 2016–October 2018.
‡Floor numbers are negative because the hospital is in part built on a hill so that Floor 0 is the most top level (Floor 0 had no moth fly observations).
§OR 7 had been closed for years until we eliminated the source of moth flies.
¶In OR 12 only 1 moth fly was found even after an intense search. From all immediately reported occasions 1–2 moth flies were caught and analyzed microbiologically (see Table 2 for results).
1These authors were co–principal investigators.
Page created: April 29, 2020
Page updated: July 18, 2020
Page reviewed: July 18, 2020
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