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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1998, p. 1953-1958, Vol. 36, No. 7
Department of
Microbiology,1 and
Regional Paediatric
Cystic Fibrosis Unit,
Received 18 August 1997/Returned for modification 13 November
1997/Accepted 23 April 1998
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was isolated from the
respiratory tracts of 41 (25%) of 163 children attending our pediatric cystic fibrosis unit between September 1993 and December 1995. The
extents of S. maltophilia contamination of environmental
sites frequented by these patients were investigated with a selective medium incorporating vancomycin, imipenem, and amphotericin B. Eighty-two isolates of S. maltophilia were cultured from 67 different environmental sites sampled between January and July 1996. The organism was widespread in the home environment, with 20 (36%) and
25 (42%) of sampled sites positive in the homes of colonized and
noncolonized patients, respectively. In the nosocomial setting, it was
isolated from 18 (32%) sites in the hospital ward and from 4 (17%)
sites in the outpatient clinic area. The most common sites of
contamination were sink drains, faucets, and other items frequently in
contact with water. All environmental and clinical isolates were
genotyped with enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequences as primers. A total of 33 of the 41 patients were colonized with unique strains, and four pairs of patients shared strains. Further
characterization by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis after digestion
with XbaI found that there was no evidence of
patient-to-patient transmission; however, there was some evidence that
a small number of patients may have acquired the organism from the
hospital environment. Resampling of environmental sites in the hospital
ward in January 1997 revealed evidence of genetic drift, complicating
the accurate determination of environmental sources for clinical
strains. The source of the majority of S. maltophilia
strains colonizing the respiratory tracts of these patients with cystic
fibrosis remained uncertain but may have represented multiple,
independent acquisitions from a variety of environmental sites both
within and outside the hospital.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Molecular Epidemiology of Stenotrophomonas
maltophilia Isolated from Clinical Specimens from Patients with
Cystic Fibrosis and Associated Environmental Samples
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, Old Medical School, Thoresby Place, Leeds, LS2 9JT United Kingdom. Phone: 113-3923499. Fax: 113-2335649. E-mail:
mickgk{at}leeds.ac.uk.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 1998, p. 1953-1958, Vol. 36, No. 7
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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