Water faucets as a source of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and colonization in neonatal and adult intensive care unit patients

•We studied the occurrence of P. aeruginosa in neonatal and adult ICUs.•Clinical and environmental isolates of P. aeruginosa were typed using ERIC-PCR.•Both ICUs' faucets were frequently colonized with P. aeruginosa.•Identical clones were found in patients and in the adjacent faucets.•In neonatal ICUs, strict use of sterile water for bathing neonates is suggested.

We investigated the occurrence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in our neonatal and adult intensive care units. Using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction, we showed spatial and temporal associations with clonal identity between patients' and adjacent faucets' clones. Both units' taps were highly colonized with P aeruginosa and with other waterborne bacteria. In the neonatal intensive care unit, strict use of sterile water for bathing neonates may have contributed to a reduction in clinical isolation of P aeruginosa postintervention.