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Assessing the Viability of Indicator Organisms in Healthcare Ice Machines: Prevalence of Typical Hospital-Acquired Infections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2026

Brandon Smith*
Affiliation:
EST

Abstract

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Ice machines in healthcare environments have increasingly been recognized as potential reservoirs for opportunistic and healthcare-associated pathogens. This study evaluated 43 ice machines across 9 healthcare facilities in the Louisville Metro area during the first half of 2025. Samples were analyzed at a detection limit of 0.1 CFU/mL for key bacterial and fungal organisms associated with hospital-acquired infections. Results revealed no detection of Legionella pneumophila, but notable prevalence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.7%), non-tuberculosis Mycobacteria (NTM) (69.8%), including Mycobacterium chimaera (11.6%), Candida tropicalis (4.7%), Candida glabrata (2.3%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (39.5%), with carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) present in 64.7% of positive A. baumannii sites. Findings highlight substantial environmental contamination in ice machines and reinforce the need for routine monitoring and infection-control strategies. Further, data suggests that healthcare facilities should be aware that more commonly assessed indicator organisms (such as Legionella pneumophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) may not provide accurate assessment of the overall microbiological control of these water systems.

Information

Type
Surveillance
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America