title: The use of a biotyping system to investigate an unusual clustering bacteraemias caused by Aeromonas species.
abstract: Aeromonas spp. were isolated from blood cultures taken from four clinically bacteraemic patients over an 18 day period on four separate wards. A common source was suspected and extensive environmental sampling revealed two more ward isolates of Aeromonas spp. A biotyping system was employed which distinguished the strains from each other and indicated that a common source was unlikely. This coincidental clustering occurred in the autumn, a period when isolates from water and faeces are normally at a peak. All patients were debilitated and it is postulated that their own gastrointestinal tracts acted as the most likely route for their bacteraemias.
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000368:Aged; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*