Genotypic features of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains circulating in surgical hospital

AIM: To study genetic diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains circulating in intensive care unit (ICU), to determine the source of these strains and duration of circulation of epidemically-significant clone in the hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Genotyping of 106 P. aeruginosa strains isolated from patients, clinical specimens and fomites was performed by random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis with oligonucleotide primer Sh1 of 10 bp long. RESULTS: Out of 106 P. aeruginosa isolates, 72.6% belonged to the same genotype, which was dominated in ICU during whole study period. It was established that 58.3% of examined patients were colonized by identical strains belonged to prevalent genotype that indicates the intrahospital transmission of epidemic strain. CONCLUSION: Obtained data show that during the period of observation (15 months) one clone of P. aeruginosa dominated in ICU, which was characterized by multiple resistance to antibiotics and caused nosocomial infection in 58.3% of patients. This confirms the need of continuous molecular-microbiological monitoring of hospital microflora in order to early detect potentially dangerous epidemic hospital strains, which are able to cause nosocomial infections.