Two Consecutive Outbreaks of<i>Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia (Xanthomonas Maltophilia)</i>in an Intensive-care Unit Defined by Restriction Fragment-Length Polymorphism Typing

Abstract

Molecular typing allowed us to determine that there were two separate consecutive S maltophilia outbreaks rather than a single protracted outbreak. Recovery of S. maltophilia from patient ventilators and an in-line suction catheter suggests that the organism may have been spread by cross-contamination from contaminated equipment or from an environmental source.