Those most at risk include patients in hospitals, especially those: on breathing machines ventilators with devices such as catheters with wounds from surgery or burns Top of Page. How is it spread? How can you avoid getting an infection? Patients and caregivers should: keep their hands clean to avoid getting sick and spreading germs that can cause infections wash their hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, particularly before and after caring for wounds or touching a medical device remind healthcare providers and caregivers to clean their hands before touching the patient or handling medical devices allow healthcare staff to clean their room daily when in a healthcare setting Healthcare providers should pay careful attention to recommended infection control practices, including hand hygiene and environmental cleaning e.
How are these infections treated? What is CDC doing to address these infections? Get Email Updates. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this? Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Specific symptoms depend on where the infection occurs:. A bacterial infection of the blood is called bacteremia. A blood infection is one of the most severe infections caused by pseudomonas.
Symptoms may include:. Bacteremia with pseudomonas can also cause very low blood pressure , known as hemodynamic shock, which can lead to failure of other organs including the heart , kidneys , and liver.
Infection of the lungs is called pneumonia. Symptoms include:. When this bacterium infects the skin, it most often affects the hair follicles. This is called folliculitis.
Symptoms of an eye infection may include:. Pseudomonas infections are caused by a free-living bacterium from the genus Pseudomonas. They favor moist areas and are widely found in soil and water. Only a few of the many species cause disease. The most common species that causes infection is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Healthy people are usually at low risk of infection. People who already have a weakened immune system because of another illness or condition are at a higher risk of infection. This is especially true for people who are hospitalized for an extended period of time. The bacteria can be spread in hospitals via the hands of healthcare workers, or by hospital equipment that is not properly cleaned.
Pseudomonas infections are considered opportunistic infections. Very mild illnesses like skin rashes and ear infections have been reported in healthy individuals. The infection might occur after exposure to hot tubs and swimming pools that are inadequately chlorinated. Pseudomonas can infect any part of the body including the liver, brain, bones, and sinuses.
Mild, water-related P. Usually, in order to prevent resistance, a person will be given a combination of several antibiotics. The CDC provides detailed information on this and other healthcare-associated infections. Additional reporting by Abbi Libers and Carlene Bauer.
Pathogen—Host Interactions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pneumonia. June 1, By subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Health Topics. Health Tools.
Reviewed: December 1, Medically Reviewed. Pseudomonas is a group of bacteria that can cause various types of infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common disease-causing form of this bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.
Symptoms of P. Healthy people often carry these bacteria around without knowing it and without having any problems. Sometimes these germs cause minor problems like swimmer's ear and hot tub rash. But for people who are weak or ill, these germs can cause very serious—even deadly—infections in any part of the body. The infections are hard to treat because the bacteria can resist many types of antibiotics, the medicines normally used to kill bacteria.
People in the hospital may get this infection. In hospitals, the bacteria can spread through medical equipment, cleaning solutions, and other equipment. They can even spread through food. When they spread to patients who are weak because of illness, surgery, or treatment, they can cause very serious infections.
For example, pseudomonas is one of the main causes of pneumonia in patients who are on breathing machines. Burn victims and people with puncture wounds may get dangerous pseudomonas infections of the blood, bone, or urinary tract. The bacteria can also get into the body through IV needles or catheters. These bacteria like moist environments, such as hot tubs and swimming pools, where they can cause a skin rash or swimmer's ear.
People who wear contact lenses can get serious eye infections if the bacteria get into their contact lens solutions. This can happen if you aren't careful about keeping your contact lenses and equipment sterile. Symptoms depend on where the infection is. If it's in a wound, there may be green-blue pus in or around the area.
If you have swimmer's ear, your ear aches. If the infection causes pneumonia, you may get a cough. When the infections are elsewhere in the body, you may have a fever and feel tired. But all pseudomonas infections can make you very sick if they spread through the bloodstream septicemia.
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