TABLE 1.
Organisms isolated from red cells implicated in transfusion-associated infectionsa
| Organism | No. of contaminated units in: |
Total no. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | United Kingdom | France (29 isolates, 25 implicated units) | ||
| Gram positive | ||||
| Coagulase-negative staphylococci | 2 (1) | 2 | 3 | 7 (1) |
| Streptococcus spp. | 4d | 4 | ||
| Staphylococcus aureus | 2b | 2 | ||
| Enteroccocus faecalis | 1c | 1 | ||
| Bacillus cereus | 2 | 2 | ||
| Propionibacterium acnes | 1 | 1 | ||
| Subtotal | 2 (1 or 50%) | 2 (0 or 0%) | 13 (0 or 0%) | 17 (1 or 6%) |
| Gram negative | ||||
| Serratia liquifaciens | 2 (2) | 1 | 2 (1) | 5 (3) |
| Serratia marcescens | 1 | 1 | ||
| Yersinia enterocolitica | 1 (1) | 1 | 2 (1) | |
| Enterobacter spp. | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | ||
| Acinetobacter spp. | 5 (1)b | 5 (1) | ||
| Pseudomonas spp. | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | ||
| Escherichia coli | 3c | 3 | ||
| Klebsiella pneumoniae | 1 | 1 | ||
| Proteus mirabilis | 1 | 1 | ||
| Subtotal | 3 (2 or 67%) | 2 (1 or 50%) | 16 (4 or 25%) | 21 (7 or 33%) |
| Total | 5 (3 or 60%) | 4 (1 or 25%) | 29 (4 or 14%) | 38 (8 or 21%) |
a
Summary of organisms identified in the BACON, SHOT, and BACTHEM studies (35, 51, 57). Numbers and percentages of fatalities are given in parentheses.
b
In one case, S. aureus and A. baumannii were both isolated from the implicated bag.
c
In one case, E. faecalis and E. coli were both isolated from the implicated bag.
d
In two cases, two isolates of Streptococcus were isolated from the implicated bag. Of the eight reported fatalities, seven (87.5%) were due to gram-negative organisms.