GENOTYPIC ANALYSIS OF PSEUDOEPIDEMIC DUE TO CONTAMINATION OF HANKS BALANCED SALT SOLUTION WITH CANDIDA-PARAPSILOSIS

A cluster of isolates of Candida parapsilosis recovered from clinical specimens was demonstrated, by both classical and molecular epidemiolo gical techniques, to have resulted from contamination in the laborator y. The source of the pseudoepidemic was a repeatedly utilized contamin ated container of Hanks' balanced salt solution used in specimen proce ssing. The patterns of restriction fragment length polymorphisms of DN A extracted from the clinical and environmental isolates were identica l to each other but composed a newly identified unique C: parapsilosis DNA type.