Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link Skip directly to A-Z link
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 Bollinger1Comments to Author 
Author affiliations: Klinikum Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany (T. Rupprecht, J. Reutershan, K. Lang-Schwarz, M. Vieth, T. Bollinger); Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen, Germany (T. Rupprecht, M. Vieth); Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany (A. Moter, A. Wiessener); Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany (J. Reutershan); University of Oxford, Oxford, UK (C. Rupprecht); Universität Kassel, Kassel, Germany (R. Wagner); University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany (T. Bollinger)

Main Article

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).

Main Article

1These authors were co–principal investigators.

Page created: April 29, 2020
Page updated: July 18, 2020
Page reviewed: July 18, 2020
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
file_external