Molecular epidemiological analysis of bloodstream isolates of Candida albicans from a university hospital over a five-year period.
We assessed the genetic relations and epidemiological links among bloodstream isolates of Candida albicans, which were obtained from a university hospital over a period of five years. The 54 bloodstream isolates from the 38 patients yielded 14 different karyotypes, 29 different patterns after digestion with SfiI (REAG-S), and 31 different patterns after digestion with BssHII (REAG-B) when analyzed using three different pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing methods. In 11 patients with serial bloodstream isolates, all strains from each patient had the same PFGE pattern. The dendrograms for all of the strains revealed that the distribution of similarity values ranged from 0.70 to 1.0 in the REAG-S patterns, and from 0.35 to 1.0 in the REAG-B patterns. Overall, the combination of the three different PFGE methods identified 31 distinct types, reflecting the results obtained using the REAG-B alone different. different Five PFGE types were shared among 22 isolates from 12 patients. These types of strains were more frequently associated with central venous catheter-related fungemia than the other 26 type strains (92% versus 31%; P < 0.005). Of five PFGE types, four isolates were determined to be epidemiologically related: each of these types was primarily from two or three patients who had been hospitalized concurrently within the same intensive care unit. Our results suggest that the REAG-B constitutes perhaps the most useful PFGE method for investigating C. albicans candidemia and also shows that a relatively high proportion of C. albicans candidemia may be associated with exogenous acquisition of clonal strains.
Shin
Jong Hee
JH
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. shinjh@chonnam.ac.kr
Og
Yu Gyung
YG
Cho
Duck
D
Kee
Seung Jung
SJ
Shin
Myung Geun
MG
Suh
Soon Pal
SP
Ryang
Dong Wook
DW
D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016469:Fungemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007621:Karyotyping; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
D004271:DNA, Fungal; C044171:endodeoxyribonuclease BSSHII; C041749:endodeoxyribonuclease SfiI; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific