CDC continues mold investigation at Pittsburgh hospitals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to complete its investigation into why four transplant patients at two Pittsburgh hospitals contracted mold infections and later died, but a "Notes from the Field" report posted Thursday confirmed it is still focused on the facility's negative pressure room. Three patients were put into the negative pressure room at UPMC Presbyterian--designed to prevent the spread of airborne disease--after the procedures were completed because the cardiothoracic ICU was full, the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reported, and the fourth patient caught the mold at UPMC Montifiore. The investigative team has yet to find mold samples at UPMC that matched those contracted by the patients, but has classified the three cases at UPMC Presbyterian as "probably" healthcare-associated cases and the one instance at UPMC Montifiore as "suspected." In the report, the investigation team recommends other hospitals avoid the use of the negative pressure room for immunocompromised patients. Report