Pseudomonas aeruginosa orbital cellulitis in four neutropenic patients

Abstract

Four neutropenic patients on a haematology ward developed orbital cellulitis due to different strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa over a 7-month period. Investigation of patients and the ward environment revealed two P. aeruginosa isolates indistinguishable from the infecting strains in a plastic washing bowl and a sink in a single cubicle respectively. These items were unlikely to have been the sources of the infecting strains but were a potential cross infection hazard. Treatment of orbital cellulitis is discussed briefly.