title: Epidemiological survey of an outbreak of multiresistant Serratia marcescens by PCR-fingerprinting.
abstract: During an outbreak of Serratia marcescens from May to November 1993 43 strains obtained from 27 ICU patients infected or colonized with multiresistant S. marcescens were genotypically characterized with random amplified polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR)-fingerprinting. In addition, 43 epidemiologically unrelated control isolates were selected. PCR-fingerprinting identified ten different genotypes of S. marcescens among the outbreak related strains. One predominant genotype was demonstrated in 21/43 isolates of 11/27 patients. A cluster of this genotype was found in seven/eight patients on the cardiosurgical ICU. The epidemiologically unrelated strains all showed different genotypes as compared to the predominant type. This survey proved RAPD-PCR to be a highly discriminatory and reproducible method for epidemiological studies of S. marcescens strains in nosocomial outbreaks.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital St. Radboud, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Debast
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Melchers
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoogkamp-Korstanje
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Meis
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016868:Serratia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000187:drug effects; D018440:beta-Lactam Resistance
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial