Neonatal infection due to Salmonella worthington transmitted by a delivery-room suction apparatus

An outbreak of diarrhoea due to Salmonella worthington in five newborn babies, 5 weeks after a similar outbreak in 13 babies for which no cause had been found, occurred in the nursery of a maternity ward. The source of infection was traced to the contaminated rubber tubing of a mechanical suction apparatus. S. worthington was isolated from the rubber tubing and the Y connexion of the suction apparatus from which all the five infected babies had received suction. Reflux of contaminated amniotic fluid into the sterile catheter connected to the apparatus some time before use could have been the means of introducing the infected material to the oropharynx of the newborn babies, and amniotic fluid, acting as a good medium to support the growth of S. worthington, might be responsible for the long-lasting contamination.