Acinetobacter junii causes life-threatening sepsis in preterm infants

Acinetobacter junii caused sepsis in six preterm infants in our neonatal unit within 48 h. Each infant with clinical signs of systemic infection and activation of the acute phase response had two positive blood cultures with Acinetobacter junii. The sudden onset, the short duration of the outbreak and the fact that none of the infants were colonized by A. junii suggested a common source of A. junii administered directly into the blood. The only feature shared by all six affected newborns was an intravenous fat emulsion (Intralipid 10%), which was shown to be an excellent growth medium for A. junii. Sepsis did not occur in four infants with 20% fat emulsion or amino acids only. Vaminolact did not support growth of the outbreak strain. The immediate source of the outbreak could not be identified: samples of the actual feeds given were not available for investigation, but A. junii was not isolated from parenteral solutions with identical batch numbers used in the septic infants. We conclude that Acinetobacter junii can cause a life-threatening infection in preterm neonates. Contaminated intravenous fat emulsion is implicated as a possible source of the infection. As a part of rigid infection control, intravenous feedings should be prepared under aseptic conditions.