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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 1998, p. 421-426, Vol. 36, No. 2
Department of Internal Medicine,
Received 4 August 1997/Returned for modification 21 October
1997/Accepted 8 November 1997
Candida glabrata has emerged as an important nosocomial
pathogen, yet little is known about its epidemiology. We prospectively followed 98 patients admitted to a medical intensive care unit and the
bone marrow transplant unit of a university hospital. Samples from
environmental surfaces and the hands of hospital personnel were also
cultured. Patients with newly acquired C. glabrata strains
were compared to controls who were culture negative for C. glabrata. C. glabrata was recovered from multiple sites from 24 patients and three environmental surfaces. Sixteen patients (17%)
acquired C. glabrata after admission to the study
units. Significant risk factors for the nosocomial acquisition of
C. glabrata were prolonged duration of hospitalization in
the unit and prior antimicrobial use. Strain delineation by restriction enzyme analysis revealed 28 different strains of C. glabrata; three strain types were common to nine patients. The
environmental isolates were of the same strain type and common to five
patients (four patients with newly acquired strains). These results
suggest the possibility of exogenous nosocomial acquisition of C. glabrata, including the possible acquisition from the hospital
environment. Transmission may be by indirect contact since identical
strains of C. glabrata were recovered from patients who
were geographically and temporally associated.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Nosocomial Candida glabrata Colonization: an
Epidemiologic Study

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Wayne State
University School of Medicine, Harper Professional Building, Suite
2140, 4160 John R, Detroit, MI 48201. Phone: (313) 745-9131. Fax: (313) 993-0302. E-mail: JVAZQUEZ{at}oncgate.roc.wayne.edu.
Present address: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
06504.
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