Molecular investigation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates exhibiting rapid emergence of ticarcillin-clavulanate resistance

The prevalence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia resistance to ticarcillin-cl avulanate has dramatically increased in our hospital over the past few year s. Sixty-six clinical isolates, collected from 61 patients, were tested for antibiotic susceptibility and genotyped by two different enterobacterial r epetitive intergenic consensus-PCR (ERIC-PCR) systems. Although two small o utbreaks were identified in the medical intensive care unit, the remaining 58 strains generated 48 different PCR patterns. The rapid emergence of resi stance in S. maltophilia occured in absence of an epidemic and was probably influenced by increasing-beta-lactam use in our hospital. (C) 2000 The Hos pital Infection Society.