A 37-week-old infant was delivered by cesarean section and discharged from a Connecticut hospital when he was 10 days old. Two days later he was lethargic and had a fever. When he was readmitted to the hospital, he had multiple brain abscesses caused by Citrobacter diversus. After a prolonged illness, the baby died. A second infant with a normal pregnancy and delivery died of C. diversus meningitis after a short illness. Nine infants in the hospital nursery had umbilical cord colonization by C. diversus. Environmental cultures were negative for hospital equipment. a. What is the normal habitat of this gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-endospore-forming, lactose-positive rod? b.Provide a plan for identifying the source of infection and preventing further infection.
Hi, I understand your concern and would explain that this type of bacteria can be present in the hands of nurses, in case of a dermatological disorder.  The fact that all the hospital equipment were negative is another argument in favor of a possible nurse hand transmission.  For this reason, I would recommend performing nurses hand bacterial culture to try to find the possible cause of contamination.  Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.