Abstract
One of the criteria used to determine the clinical importance of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CMS) is the isolation of the bacteria from sequential blood cultures. Sequential isolates of CNS obtained from five immunocompromised patients over three months were genetically characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). This typing method was compared to two first-line typing methods: determination of the species and of antibiotic susceptibility. In four patients the initial clinical evaluation changed because of the PFGE results; several episodes of bacteremia would have been wrongly assessed if only the biotype and the antibiotype had been determined. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis should therefore be used for CNS strains from immunocompromised patients or those suffering from chronic diseases with non-concordant biotype and antibiotype.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stillman RI, Wenzel RP, Donowitz LC: Emergence of coagulase-negative staphylococci as major nosocomial bloodstream pathogens. Infection Control 1987, 8: 108–112.
Pfaller MA, Herwaldt LA: Laboratory, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of coagulase-negative staphylococci. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 1988, 1: 281–299.
Peters G, Schumacher-Perdreau F, Pulverer G: Infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci in immunocompromised patients. Infection and Immunity 1986, 14: 165–169.
Baltimore RS: Is it real or is it a contaminant? A guide to the interpretation of blood culture results. American Journal of Diseases of Children 1987, 141: 241–242.
Dryden MS, Talsania HG, Martin S, Cunningham M, Richardson JF, Cookson B, Marples RR, Phillips I: Evaluation of methods for typing coagulase-negative staphylococci. Journal of Medical Microbiology 1992, 37: 109–117.
Goering RV: Molecular epidemiology of nosocomial infection: analysis of chromosomal restriction fragment patterns by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 1993, 14: 595–600.
Vandenesch F, Lina B, Lebeau C, Greenland TB, Etienne J: Epidemiological markers of coagulase negative staphylococci. Intensive Care Medicine 1993, 19: 311–315.
Haertl R, Brandlow G: Genotyping ofStaphylococcus epidermidis by small-fragment restriction endonuclease analysis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic restriction fragments. Microbiology and Immunology 1994, 38: 527–534.
Huebner J, Pier GB, Maslow JN, Muller E, Shiro H, Parent M, Kropec A, Arbeit RD, Goldman DA: Endemic nosocomial transmission ofStaphylococcus epidermidis bacteremia isolates in a neonatal intensive care unit over 10 years. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1994, 169: 526–531.
Linhardt F, Ziebuhr W, Meyer P, Witte W, Hacker J: Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of genomic restriction fragments as a tool for the epidemiological analysis ofStaphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci. FEMS Microbiology Letters 1992, 74: 181–185.
National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards: Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Approved standard. M100-S4. NCCLS, Villanova, PA, 1992.
Tenover FC, Arbeit RD, Goering RV, Mickelsen PA, Murray BE, Persing DH, Swaminathan B: Interpreting chromosomal DNA restriction patterns produced by pulsedfield gel electrophoresis: criteria for bacterial strain typing. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1995, 33: 2233–2239.
Arbeit RD, Slutsky A, Barber TW, Maslow JN, Niemczyk S, Falkinham JO III, O'Connor GT, von Reyn CF: Genetic diversity among strains ofMycobacterium avium causing monoclonal and polyclonal bacteremia in patients with AIDS. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1993, 167: 1384–1390.
Renaud F, Freney J, Etienne J, Bes M, Brun Y, Barsotti O, Andre S, Fleurette J: Restriction endonuclease analysis ofStaphylococcus epidermidis DNA may be a useful epidemiological marker. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1988, 26: 1729–1734.
Khatib R, Riederer KM, Clark JA, Khatib S, Laurence E, Francis MW: Coagulase-negative staphylococci in multiple blood cultures: strain relatedness and determination of same-strain bacteremia. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1995, 33: 816–820
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Toldos, C.M., Yagüe, G., Ortiz, G. et al. Assessment of multiple coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated in blood cultures using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 16, 581–586 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447920
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447920