title: Clonal analysis of Staphylococcus hominis strains isolated from hospitalized patients.
abstract: Staphylococcus hominis is a part of normal skin flora, but it is also a cause of nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic relatedness of 62 strains of S. hominis obtained from hospitalised patients during an 11-year period. For the discrimination of these clinical strains we used repetitive sequence-based PCR method (BOX-PCR) and multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). BOX-PCR analysis revealed a large genetic diversity among clinical strains and we did not find a predominant clone with the ability to persist in a hospital environment. MLVA is not as discriminatory as BOX fingerprinting and would not be a useful method for epidemiological studies.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szczuka
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Trawczyński
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaznowski
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D041181:Staphylococcus hominis / Q000235:genetics*