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Carbapenemase-producing organism (CPO) infection or colonisation
Carbapenemase-producing organism (CPO) infection or colonisation
Statutory notification
Public health management
Important information
- Infectious agent: CPO is a collective term that refers to any organisms of the order Enterobacteralesand genera Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas that have been identified to carry an acquired carbapenemase gene, including carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii complex (CPAB), carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CPPA).
- Transmission: Person-to-person through direct contact with an infected or colonised person or the contaminated hands of a healthcare worker, or indirectly from contact with contaminated environmental surfaces or medical equipment.
- Incubation period: Variable.
- Infectious period: As long as CPO is shed from the infected or colonised person.
- Case exclusion: Do not exclude. Healthcare facility patients colonised or infected with a CPO should be managed in a single room with dedicated bathroom facilities as per the Guidelines for the Screening and Management of Multi-resistant Organisms in Healthcare Facilities.
- Contact exclusion: Do not exclude.
- Treatment: Antibiotic treatment for clinical infection as recommended by the doctor.
- Immunisation: None available.
- Case follow-up: Is conducted by hospitals, and the Communicable Disease Control Directorate, as required.
Information for GPs and other healthcare providers
Management in healthcare facilities
Notifiable disease data and reports
Carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii complex (CPAB), carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CPPA) infection or colonisation is a notifiable condition via laboratory notification in WA. Private and public laboratories are required to forward isolates of CPO to the PathWest Gram-negative Typing Laboratory for confirmatory testing, characterisation, and reporting. CPO surveillance data are therefore reported separately to other notifiable disease data.
Last reviewed: 11-12-2023
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