STENOTROPHOMONAS-MALTOPHILIA - AN EPIDEMI OLOGIC ANALYSIS BY ERIC-PCROF CLINICAL ISOLATES COLLECTED DURING A FRENCH COLLABORATIVE STUDY

ERIC-PCR was used to type 147 clinical isolates of Stenotrophomonas ma ltophilia collected over a 3 month period (March-May 1997), from patie nts hospitalized in 24 medical centers in France. The number of isolat es collected varied according to the center; most of them were respira tory tract isolates (66.5 %). A large heterogenecity among the ERIC-PC R patterns was noted, even within the same center. This correlates wit h the rising S. maltophilia infection rate reported recently and mostl y associated with endemic hospital acquired infection. Nevertheless, c rossed infections of the organism were detect-ed in 5 out of the 24 ho spitals, but in any case, the number of patients never exceeded 3. ERI C-PCR seems to be a convenient and rapid molecular typing tool for the investigation of S. maltophilia epidemiology.