Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T08:33:21.393Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hospital-acquired infections in a burns unit caused by an imported strain of Staphylococcus aureus with unusual multi-resistance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2010

F. Espersen ,
P. Bo Nielsen ,
K. Lund ,
B. Sylvest  and
K. Jensen
F. Espersen
Affiliation:
The Statens Seruminstitut, Department of Clinical Microbiology at Hvidovre Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Copenhagen, Denmark
P. Bo Nielsen
Affiliation:
The Statens Seruminstitut, Department of Clinical Microbiology at Hvidovre Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Copenhagen, Denmark
K. Lund
Affiliation:
The Statens Seruminstitut, Department of Clinical Microbiology at Hvidovre Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Copenhagen, Denmark
B. Sylvest
Affiliation:
The Statens Seruminstitut, Department of Clinical Microbiology at Hvidovre Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Copenhagen, Denmark
K. Jensen
Affiliation:
The Statens Seruminstitut, Department of Clinical Microbiology at Hvidovre Hospital and the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Hvidovre Hospital, Kettegaard Alle 30, DK-2650, Copenhagen, Denmark
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

During the past year five patients from countries in the Middle East admitted to a burns unit were found to harbour a strain of Staphylococcus aureus with unusual multi-resistance to antibiotics. The admission of the first patient was followed by an outbreak of infection with this strain involving ten patients in the unit. In addition five staff members were found to be nasal carriers of the strain. As a result of this incident, the following four patients admitted to the unit were isolated on admission and the spread of their strains was thus prevented. It is recommended that patients on admission to burns units, or similar departments with patients very susceptible to infection, are isolated until their bacterial floras have been examined.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , June 1982 , pp. 535 - 541
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

References

REFERENCES

Barber, M. (1947 a). Staphylococcal infection due to penicillin-resistant strains. British Medical Journal ii, 863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, M. (1947 b). Coagulase positive staphylococci resistant to penicillin. Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology 59, 373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bint, A. J., George, R. H., Healing, D. E., Wise, R. & Davies, M. (1977). An outbreak of infection caused by gentamycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Clinical Pathology 30, 165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borowski, J., Kamienska, K. & Rutecha, I. (1964). Methicillin-resistant staphylococci. British Medical Journal i, 983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crossley, K., Loesch, D.. Landesman, B., Mead, K., Chern, M. & Strate, R. (1979). An outbreak of infections caused by strains of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin and aminiglycosides. I. Clinical studies. Journal of Infectious Diseases 139, 273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eriksen, K. R. (1965). Penicillin Resistente Stafylokokker. Thesis. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.Google Scholar
Falkow, S. (1975). Infectious Multiple Drug Resistance. London: Pion.Google Scholar
Finland, M. (1971). Changes in susceptibility of selected pathogenic bacteria to widely used antibiotics. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 182, 5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambraeus, A. (1973 a). Studies on transmission of Staphylococcus aureus in an isolation ward for burned patients. Journal of Hygiene 71, 171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambraeus, A. (1973 b). Transfer of Staphylococcus aureus via nurses' uniforms. Journal of Hygiene 71, 799.Google ScholarPubMed
Hambraeus, A. & Sanderson, H. F. (1972). The control by ventilation of airborne bacterial transfer between hospital patients, and its assessment by means of a particle tracer. III. Studies with an airborne particle tracer in an isolation ward for burned patients. Journal of Hygiene 70, 299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, K. (1967). Combination therapy of infections caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococci with rifampicin plus fucidic acid or novobiocin.Proceedings of the International Congress of Chemotherapy,Vienna.Google Scholar
Jessen, O., Rosendal, K., Bülow, P., Faber, V. & Eriksen, K. R. (1969). Changing staphylococci and staphylococcal infections. A ten-year study of bacteria and cases of bacteremia. New England Journal of Medicine 281, 627.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jevons, M. P. (1961). ‘Celbenin’resistant staphylococci. British Medical Journal ii, 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lidwell, O. M., Brock, B., Shooter, R. A., Cooke, E. M. & Thomas, G. E. (1975). Airborne infection in a fully air-conditioned hospital. IV. Airborne dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus and its nasal acquisition by patients. Journal of Hygiene 75, 445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowbury, E. J. L. (1972). Infection associated with burns. Postgraduate Medical Journal 48, 338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moncrieff, J. A. (1973). Burns. New England Journal of Medicine 288, 444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plorde, J. J. & Sherris, J. C. (1974). Staphylococcal resistance to antibiotics: origin, measurement and epidemiology. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 236, 413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ransjö, U. (1978). Isolation care of infection-prone burn patients. Thesis Uppsala.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Recco, R. A., Schaefler, S. & Gladstone, J. L. (1976). A hospital outbreak of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus. Clinical Research 24, 622.Google Scholar
Ridley, M., Lynn, R., Barrie, D. & Stead, K. C. (1970). Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and hospital antibiotic policies. Lancet i, 230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosendal, K., Jessen, O., Bentzon, M. W. & Bülow, P. (1977). Antibiotic policy and spread of Staphylococcus aureus strains in Danish hospitals, 1969–1974. Acta pathologica et microbiologica scandinavica B 85, 143.Google ScholarPubMed
Soussy, C. J., Dublanchet, A., Cormier, M., Bismuth, R., Mizon, F., Chardon, H., Duval, J. & Fabiani, G. (1976). Nouvelles résistances plasmidiques de Staphylococcus aureus aux aminosides. Nouvelle Presse Médicale 5, 2599.Google ScholarPubMed
Thomsen, M. (1970). The burns unit in Copenhagen. VII. Time and onset and duration of infection. Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 4, 61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, R. E. O. & Dean, B. A. (1974). Phage types of Staphylococcus aureus in one hospital 1961–72. Journal of Hygiene 73, 375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed