An outbreak of Burkholderia cepacia complex was linked to a contamination in the hospital's institutional compounding facility, according to a report in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Seven inpatients at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., were infected with the bacteria over a seven-day period. All the patients, researchers found, had been receiving continuous intravenous fentanyl infusion prepared by the hospital's compounding facility. After stopping administration of the compounded fentanyl, the outbreak ceased.
Researchers examined the compounding facility and found a faulty vacuum-assisted filtration method to be the source of the contamination.
Researchers suggest in-house compounding facilities "be vigilant in efforts to prevent, recognize and terminate medication-related outbreaks."
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