How do you get Cepacia?

[ccflewallen]

Can you get Cepacia any other way than from another person with CF who has Cepacia? I was just wondering because when I was growing up, I went to a camp in Georgia called Camp Wak-N-Hak. After several years Cfers started getting cepacia and they started making us wear masks and all these other precautions as to make sure it didnt spread. Just wondering...

ccflewallen

 

[Diane]

Hi,
I have b.cepacia and i know i got it while in the hospital for a sinus surgery. It was my first time in the hospital and i know i didnt have it before because i was very healthy before i went in the hospital, but when i came out the whole story changed. I know cepacia can be in soil(dirt) and also rotten onions. I've also read about it being used as a fertilizer although i believe that isnt allowed anymore ( i hope ). Cepacia is mostly spread thru contact with another infected cf patient. Apparently being in a hospital room that someone with cepacia was in before ( that wasnt properly cleaned and disinfected) is another way to spread it. I had no idea anything like b.cepacia even existed, because had i'd known i would have wiped down everything myself, that i might have even remotely touched with alcohol wipes or some kind of disinfecting wipes to protect myself.

 

[ClashPunk82]

Diane when I go in the hospital my mom brings alcohol and paper towels and cleans EVERYTHING!! But I am glad she does I don't wanna touch anything without the alcohol seal of approval! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0">

 

[ccflewallen]

Thanks for the replies. I go to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville and that is really the only time I worry about coming in contact with b. cepacia, at least via another CF patient. I wasnt aware of the other places it could be found. My wife is also very "germ conscious". We keep Lysol Disinfectant Spray all the time. My wife washes herhands so much that her hands are chapped most of the time.

 

[anonymous]

I picked it up with a CF clinic visit.

Other know sources, onions with the black spots, potatos, river bank sediment. Yes the golf courses still use some to treat the green for the idiots that golf (controls the fungus). The legislation to outlaw this had many loopholes to keep those greens green. This may still be the case.

 

[JustDucky]

Hey ccflewallen!! I have cepacia, have no idea where I got it...most likely in a hospital. The thing about cepacia, is that it is such a hearty bug, it has been known to live in antiseptitics! I have even read articles about how it was being spread via respiratory equipment, such as nebulizers. Apparently this facility used the muliti dose albuterol and dosed thier patients with that...well, it turned out that alot of folks began to colonize B. cepacia and after infectious disease investigated, it was found to be growing in the albuterol. Diane was right about it being considered as use for a fertilizer, there was a huge uproar amongst the CF community about that and that was kaboshed.....Cepacia is spread person to person usually with those with CF, but like I said, it can be passed via contamination as well. I hope I have helped you...any more questions, shoot! HUgs, Cepaciagal