Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Epidemiology and Infection logoLink to Epidemiology and Infection
. 1991 Jun;106(3):467–475. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800067510

Characterization of clinically significant isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis from patients with cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections.

J Etienne 1, B Charpin 1, J Grando 1, Y Brun 1, M Bes 1, J Fleurette 1
PMCID: PMC2271869  PMID: 2050201

Abstract

Biotyping, slime production, antibiograms, extrachromosomal DNA banding and total DNA restriction analysis were used to characterize Staphylococcus epidermidis strains causing cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections in 11 patients. Infections considered to be community acquired and those acquired in the first 2 weeks of hospital admission were due to oxacillin-susceptible isolates. Multiply resistant strains were isolated from patients who were in hospital for more than 1 month before tube implantation. Slime was detected in staphylococci for 54% of cases, but its expression varied. Strains from different patients could be differentiated from one another by the extrachromosomal DNA bandings and total DNA restriction patterns, but isolates from the same patient were usually similar. During the period of external drainage, epidemiological markers were useful in differentiating persistence of infection from contamination or re-infection by a new strain.

Full text

PDF
467

Images in this article

472Fig. 1
on p.472

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Archer G. L., Tenenbaum M. J. Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1980 Feb;17(2):269–272. doi: 10.1128/aac.17.2.269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bayston R., Lari J. A study of the sources of infection in colonised shunts. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1974 Dec;16(6 Suppl 32):16–22. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.1974.tb03443.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Christensen G. D., Baddour L. M., Madison B. M., Parisi J. T., Abraham S. N., Hasty D. L., Lowrance J. H., Josephs J. A., Simpson W. A. Colonial morphology of staphylococci on Memphis agar: phase variation of slime production, resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, and virulence. J Infect Dis. 1990 Jun;161(6):1153–1169. doi: 10.1093/infdis/161.6.1153. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Christensen G. D., Parisi J. T., Bisno A. L., Simpson W. A., Beachey E. H. Characterization of clinically significant strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci. J Clin Microbiol. 1983 Aug;18(2):258–269. doi: 10.1128/jcm.18.2.258-269.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Diaz-Mitoma F., Harding G. K., Hoban D. J., Roberts R. S., Low D. E. Clinical significance of a test for slime production in ventriculoperitoneal shunt infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci. J Infect Dis. 1987 Oct;156(4):555–560. doi: 10.1093/infdis/156.4.555. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Etienne J., Brun Y., el Solh N., Delorme V., Mouren C., Bes M., Fleurette J. Characterization of clinically significant isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis from patients with endocarditis. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Apr;26(4):613–617. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.4.613-617.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gardner P., Leipzig T., Phillips P. Infections of central nervous system shunts. Med Clin North Am. 1985 Mar;69(2):297–314. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Holmes D. S., Quigley M. A rapid boiling method for the preparation of bacterial plasmids. Anal Biochem. 1981 Jun;114(1):193–197. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(81)90473-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kloos W. E., Schleifer K. H. Simplified scheme for routine identification of human Staphylococcus species. J Clin Microbiol. 1975 Jan;1(1):82–88. doi: 10.1128/jcm.1.1.82-88.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Levy M. F., Schmitt D. D., Edmiston C. E., Bandyk D. F., Krepel C. J., Seabrook G. R., Towne J. B. Sequential analysis of staphylococcal colonization of body surfaces of patients undergoing vascular surgery. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Apr;28(4):664–669. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.4.664-669.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ortqvist A., Ransjö U., Wretlind B. Plasmid analysis as an epidemiological tool in neurosurgical infections with coagulase-negative staphylococci. Epidemiol Infect. 1987 Jun;98(3):231–239. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800061987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pfaller M. A., Herwaldt L. A. Laboratory, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of coagulase-negative staphylococci. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1988 Jul;1(3):281–299. doi: 10.1128/cmr.1.3.281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Quintiliani R., Cooper B. W. Current concepts in the treatment of staphylococcal meningitis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1988 Apr;21 (Suppl 100):107–114. doi: 10.1093/jac/21.suppl_c.107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Renaud F., Freney J., Etienne J., Bes M., Brun Y., Barsotti O., Andre S., Fleurette J. Restriction endonuclease analysis of Staphylococcus epidermidis DNA may be a useful epidemiological marker. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Sep;26(9):1729–1734. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.9.1729-1734.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schmitt D. D., Bandyk D. F., Pequet A. J., Towne J. B. Bacterial adherence to vascular prostheses. A determinant of graft infectivity. J Vasc Surg. 1986 May;3(5):732–740. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schoenbaum S. C., Gardner P., Shillito J. Infections of cerebrospinal fluid shunts: epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and therapy. J Infect Dis. 1975 May;131(5):543–552. doi: 10.1093/infdis/131.5.543. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Younger J. J., Christensen G. D., Bartley D. L., Simmons J. C., Barrett F. F. Coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from cerebrospinal fluid shunts: importance of slime production, species identification, and shunt removal to clinical outcome. J Infect Dis. 1987 Oct;156(4):548–554. doi: 10.1093/infdis/156.4.548. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Epidemiology and Infection are provided here courtesy of Cambridge University Press

RESOURCES