JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kluytmans, J.
Right arrow Articles by van Belkum, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kluytmans, J.
Right arrow Articles by van Belkum, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2214-2219, Vol. 36, No. 8
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Outbreak of Staphylococcus schleiferi Wound Infections: Strain Characterization by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis, PCR Ribotyping, Conventional Ribotyping, and Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Jan Kluytmans,1,* Hans Berg,1 Paul Steegh,1 François Vandenesch,2 Jerome Etienne,2 and Alex van Belkum3

Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ignatius Hospital Breda, 4800 RK Breda,1 and Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Rotterdam, 3015 GD Rotterdam,3 The Netherlands, and Faculté de Médecine, Laboratoire de Bactériologie, UPRES EA 1655, 69372 Lyon cedex 08, France2

Received 23 January 1998/Returned for modification 9 March 1998/Accepted 12 May 1998

Within a 1-year period, six surgical-site infections (SSI) caused by Staphylococcus schleiferi were observed in the department of cardiac surgery of Ignatius Hospital, Breda, The Netherlands. Since outbreaks caused by this species of coagulase-negative staphylococci have not been described before, an extensive environmental survey and a case control study were performed in combination with molecular typing of the causative microorganism in order to identify potential sources of infection. Variability, as detected by four different genotyping methods (random amplification of polymorphic DNA [RAPD], conventional and PCR-mediated ribotyping, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis [PFGE] of DNA macro restriction fragments), appeared to be limited both among the clinical isolates and among several control strains obtained from various unrelated sources. Among unrelated strains, RAPD and PCR-mediated ribotyping identified two types only, whereas seven different types were identified in a relatively concordant manner by conventional ribotyping and PFGE. The latter two procedures proved to be the most useful tools for tracking the epidemiology of S. schleiferi. Four of the outbreak-related strains were identical by both methods, and two isolates showed limited differences. In the search for a potential source of S. schleiferi infection, two slightly different PFGE types were encountered on several occasions in the nose of a single surgeon. These strains were, however, clearly different from the outbreak type. In contrast, S. schleiferi cultures remained negative for two persons identified on the basis of case control analysis. It was demonstrated that SSI caused by S. schleiferi had a clinical impact for patients comparable to that of a wound infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus. This report describes the first well-documented outbreak of S. schleiferi infection. A source of the outbreak was not detected.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ignatius Hospital Breda, P.O. Box 90158, 4800 RK Breda, The Netherlands. Phone: 31 76 5258015. Fax: 31 76 5138636. E-mail: jkluytmans{at}ignatius.nl.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1998, p. 2214-2219, Vol. 36, No. 8
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.