Article
Characterization of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from hospital indoor air and a comparative analysis between airborne and inpatient isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis
Registration in:
BOTELHO, Ana Maira Nunes; et al. Characterization of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from hospital indoor air and a comparative analysis between airborne and inpatient isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Journal of Medical Microbiology, v. 61, p.1136-1145, 2012.
0022-2615
10.1099/jmm.0.035931-0
1473-5644
Author
Botelho, Ana Maria Nunes
Nunes, Zilma das Grac¸a
Asensi, Marise Dutra
Gomes, Marisa Zenaide Ribeiro
Fracalanzza, Sérgio Eduardo Longo
Figueiredo, Agnes Marie Sá
Abstract
A total of 108 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were collected from hospital indoor air.
The majority of the isolates were able to produce biofilms and displayed multiresistance profiles.
The most frequent species identified were Staphylococcus epidermidis (n527) and
Staphylococcus haemolyticus (n517). Potential virulence traits (icaAD, aap, hld, atlE and sesB)
and genotypic profiles were compared for S. epidermidis isolates from indoor air (n527) and from
patients (n526) who had been admitted to the hospital 8–34 months after air sampling. Overall,
the virulence factors tested were more frequently found among S. epidermidis recovered from
clinical origin than from air sources (P50.003). Indeed, the group of patient isolates exhibited
superior ability to accumulate biofilms (P,0.0001). Despite this, genotyping using PFGE revealed
that identical clones of S. epidermidis could be recovered from both patient and indoor air
samples. In addition, some airborne isolates displayed virulence profiles and levels of biofilm
accumulation similar to those found in patient isolates. Therefore, further studies are necessary to
clarify the importance of hospital indoor air as a route of transmission for CoNS isolates (mainly S.
epidermidis). 2030-01-01