Abstract
Ziebuhr W, Dietrich K, Trautmann M, Wilhelm M.
Institut für Molekulare Infektionsbiologie, Würzburg, Germany. [email protected]
During two clinical courses of shunt-associated meningitis in a 3-month-old child, five multiresistant S. epidermidis isolates were obtained and analyzed with regard to biofilm production and antibiotic susceptibility. Three S. epidermidis strains, which were initially isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid, produced biofilms on polystyrene tissue culture plates. Following antibiotic treatment and subsequent exchange of the shunt system, sterilization of the CSF was achieved. However, after three weeks a relapse of the infection occurred. The two S. epidermidis isolates obtained now were biofilm negative, but showed an identical resistance pattern as those from the previous infection, except that resistance to rifampicin and increased mininal inhibitory concentrations of aminoglycoside antibiotics had emerged. DNA fingerprinting by PFGE indicated the clonal origin of all isolates. However, some DNA rearrangements and differences in the IS256-specific hybridization patterns could be identified in the isolates from the second infection period that led to altered biofilm formation and increased expression of aminoglycoside resistance traits. The data evidence that variation of biofilm expression occurs in vivo during an infection and highlight the extraordinary genome flexibility of pathogenic S. epidermidis.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 115-120 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | International journal of medical microbiology : IJMM |
Volume | 290(1) |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2000 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology
- Microbiology (medical)