Possible contamination of organ preservation fluid with Bacillus cereus: the United Kingdom response

C S Brown; M A Chand; P Hoffman; N Woodford; D M Livermore; S Brailsford; S Gharbia; N Small; E Billingham; M Zambon; K Grant; on behalf of the United Kingdom incident response team

doi:10.2807/ese.17.18.20165-en

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Possible contamination of organ preservation fluid with Bacillus cereus: the United Kingdom response

C S Brown^1,2, M A Chand^1,3, P Hoffman⁴, N Woodford⁵, D M Livermore⁵, S Brailsford⁶, S Gharbia⁷, N Small⁸, E Billingham⁹, M Zambon¹, K Grant¹⁰, on behalf of the United Kingdom incident response team
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Affiliations: ¹ Microbiology Services Division, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom ² Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College London, London, England ³ University College London Hospitals, London, United Kingdom ⁴ Laboratory of Healthcare-associated Infection, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom ⁵ Antibiotic Resistance Monitoring & Reference Laboratory, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom ⁶ Immunisation, Hepatitis and Blood Safety Department, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom ⁷ Department of Bioanalysis and Horizon Technologies - Applied and Functional Genomics Unit, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom ⁸ Imaging Acute and Community Care, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, London, United Kingdom ⁹ NHS Blood and Transplant, London, United Kingdom ¹⁰ Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Pathogens, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom

Correspondence:
C Brown
colin.brown hpa.org.uk
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Citation style for this article: Brown C S, Chand M A, Hoffman P, Woodford N, Livermore D M, Brailsford S, Gharbia S, Small N, Billingham E, Zambon M, Grant K, on behalf of the United Kingdom incident response team. Possible contamination of organ preservation fluid with Bacillus cereus: the United Kingdom response. Euro Surveill. 2012;17(18):pii=20165. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.17.18.20165-en Received: 23 Apr 2012

Abstract

We describe here the United Kingdom (UK) response following the recent international recall of an organ preservation fluid owing to potential Bacillus cereus contamination. This fluid is used for the transport of solid organs and pancreatic islet cells for transplant. We detail the response mechanisms, including the initial risk stratification, investigatory approaches, isolate analysis and communications to professional bodies. This report further lays out the potential need for enhanced surveillance in UK transplant patients.