A cluster of Mycobacterium wolinskyi surgical site infections at an academic medical center.

Objective. To study a cluster of Mycobacterium wolinskyi surgical site infections (SSIs).Design. Observational and case-control study.Setting. Academic hospital.Patients. Subjects who developed SSIs with M. wolinskyi following cardiothoracic surgery.Methods. Electronic surveillance was performed for case finding as well as electronic medical record review of infected cases. Surgical procedures were observed. Medical chart review was conducted to identify risk factors. A case-control study was performed to identify risk factors for infection; Fisher exact or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons of proportions and medians, respectively. Patient isolates were studied using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Environmental microbiologic sampling was performed in operating rooms, including high-volume water sampling.Results. Six definite cases of M. wolinskyi SSI following cardiothoracic surgery were identified during the outbreak period (October 1, 2008–September 30, 2011). Having cardiac surge...