[Microbiological characterization of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis]

As a result of recent development in medical practice including use of new antimicrobial agents, coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CNS) that were once considered nonpathogenic contaminants have captured attention as causes of disease. The 43 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis sensu stricto and 7 isolates of S. epidermidis from the medical staffs were characterized with regard to (1) their biochemical profiles, (2) slime productivity, (3) beta-lactamase productivity and (4) plasmid patterns. Most of the isolates have an identical biochemical profile code. The slime production was observed in the 9 strains isolated from pleural effusions or the tubes used for pleural drainage. These strains had a similar antimicrobial susceptibility profile that are commonly seen in multi-resistant strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In addition, most of these strains produced beta-lactamase. For the plasmid profiling, we selected 12 isolates that possessed 5 distinct antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. Upon agarose gel electrophoresis, 8 isolates were shown to possess a 1.9 kb plasmid. These 8 isolates had resistance against tobramycin (TOB) and erythromycin (EM). Emergence of S. epidermidis as causes of disease will increasingly necessitate the detailed microbiological characterization of the clinical isolates.