Over a four-month period, ten patients were suspected of having acquired nosocomial
infection to P. aeruginosa in the ear, nose, and throat department. Environmental and
clinical isolates were compared. Only water from a drinking water fountain was
contaminated by P. aeruginosa. This isolate and those of three patients had indistinguishable
random amplified polymorphic DNA profiles. These patients had serious oncology
diseases. The drinking water fountain was used for their alimentation by percutaneous
endoscopic gastrostomy and was the origin of the outbreak. Another type of drinking
fountain with a terminal ultraviolet treatment was installed, following which no new infections
linked to drinking water were identified.