Abstract
A surgical heater–cooler unit has been implicated as the source for Mycobacterium chimaera infections among cardiac surgery patients in several countries. We isolated M. chimaera from heater–cooler units and patient infections in the United States. Whole-genome sequencing corroborated a risk for these units acting as a reservoir for this pathogen.
Highlights
A surgical heater–cooler unit has been implicated as the source for Mycobacterium chimaera infections among cardiac surgery patients in several countries
We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships among M. chimaera isolates collected from post–cardiac surgery patients and heater–cooler units (HCUs) in 8 locations across the United States, as well as HCU-associated strains from Australia, New Zealand, and Europe (Table; Appendix Figure 1)
Status refers to HCU-associated isolates (HCU) collected directly from Stöckert 3T Heater–Cooler Units (LivaNova PLC, https://www.livanova.com; formerly Sorin Group Deutschland GmbH) or from patients with suspected HCU-derived M. chimaera, and isolates from pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) patients without history of HCU exposure
Summary
A surgical heater–cooler unit has been implicated as the source for Mycobacterium chimaera infections among cardiac surgery patients in several countries. The Study During 2015–2016, we collected NTM isolates from 3T HCU water (n = 38 isolates) and suspected patient cases (n = 24 isolates) from 8 US locations. We downloaded publicly available M. chimaera genomes from isolates collected in Australia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Sequence Read Archive (SRA).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
