Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent cause of nosocomial pneumonia and bacteremia. Classical and molecular epidemiology were used to study S. aureus outbreaks in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Social Security Hospital in Quito. Methods: S. aureus Isolates from 17 patients and 19
posible personnel carriers were collected from March 2007 to February 2008 and analyzed by Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to determine the clonal relationships. Results: In this period there were 16 cases of nosocomial acquired pneumonia and an outbreak occurred from June to September 2007 with 7 different PFGE patterns, isolates fell into 4 clonal
groups, and 2 groups of clonally-related isolates. Molecular typing failed to
identify any staphylococcal reservoir among staff members.Staphylococcus aureus es una causa frecuente de neumonía nosocomial y bacteriemia. Técnicas de epidemiología clásica y molecular fueron utilizadas para estudiar los brotes epidémicos de S. aureus en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI) del Hospital del Seguro Social en Quito.
Métodos: Los aislamientos de S. aureus de 17 pacientes y 19 posibles portadores sanos en el personal, fueron obtenidos a partir de marzo de 2007 a febrero de 2008 y analizadas por electroforesis de campo pulsado
(PFGE) para determinar las relaciones clonales
