Neonatal enteral feeding tubes as loci for colonisation by members of the Enterobacteriaceae

Abstract

Background The objective of this study was to determine whether neonatal nasogastric enteral feeding tubes are colonised by the opportunistic pathogen Cronobacter spp. (Enterobacter sakazakii) and other Enterobacteriaceae, and whether their presence was influenced by the feeding regime. Methods One hundred and twenty-nine tubes were collected from two neonatal intensive care units (NICU). A questionnaire on feeding regime was completed with each sample. Enterobacteriaceae present in the tubes were identified using conventional and molecular methods, and their antibiograms determined. Results The neonates were fed breast milk (16%), fortified breast milk (28%), ready to feed formula (20%), reconstituted powdered infant formula (PIF, 6%), or a mixture of these (21%). Eight percent of tubes were received from neonates who were 'nil by mouth'. Organisms were isolated from 76% of enteral feeding tubes as a biofilm (up to 107 cfu/tube from neonates fed fortified breast milk and reconstituted PIF) and in the residual lumen liquid (up to 107 Enterobacteriaceae cfu/ml, average volume 250 µl). The most common isolates were Enterobacter cancerogenus (41%), Serratia marcescens (36%), E. hormaechei (33%), Escherichia coli (29%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (25%), Raoultella terrigena (10%), and S. liquefaciens (12%). Other organisms isolated included C. sakazakii (2%),Yersinia enterocolitica (1%),Citrobacter freundii (1%), E. vulneris (1%), Pseudomonas fluorescens (1%), and P. luteola (1%). The enteral feeding tubes were in place between < 6 h (22%) to > 48 h (13%). All the S. marcescens isolates from the enteral feeding tubes were resistant to amoxicillin and co-amoxiclav. Of additional importance was that a quarter of E. hormaechei isolates were resistant to the 3rd generation cephalosporins ceftazidime and cefotaxime. During the period of the study, K. pneumoniae and S. marcescens caused infections in the two NICUs. Conclusion This study shows that neonatal enteral feeding tubes, irrespective of feeding regime, act as loci for the bacterial attachment and multiplication of numerous opportunistic pathogens within the Enterobacteriaceae family. Subsequently, these organisms will enter the stomach as a bolus with each feed. Therefore, enteral feeding tubes are an important risk factor to consider with respect to neonatal infections.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-9-146
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Biosciences
College of Health & Life Sciences > Chronic and Communicable Conditions
College of Health & Life Sciences
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Optometry & Vision Science Research Group (OVSRG)
College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Optometry > Vision, Hearing and Language
College of Health & Life Sciences > Clinical and Systems Neuroscience
Additional Information: © 2009 Hurrell et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Uncontrolled Keywords: neonatal nasogastric enteral feeding tubes,pathogen Cronobacter spp,Enterobacter sakazakii,Enterobacteriaceae,feeding regime,neonatal intensive care,neonatal infections,Infectious Diseases
Publication ISSN: 1471-2334
Last Modified: 13 Feb 2024 18:07
Date Deposited: 11 Mar 2019 17:54
Full Text Link: http://www.biom ... om/bmcinfectdis
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2009-09-01
Authors: Hurrell, Edward
Kucerova, Eva
Loughlin, Michael
Caubilla-Barron, Juncal
Hilton, Anthony C. (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-8025-5270)
Armstrong, Richard A. (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-5046-3199)
Smith, Craig
Grant, Judith
Shoo, Shiu
Forsythe, Stephen

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