Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial infection in a maternity ward.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nosocomial infections frequently occur in the hospital environment, but their incidence is less often observed in neonates. In the present investigation, seventeen cases were recorded over a nine-week period (two cases per week). Pulsed field gradient gel electrophoresis confirmed the clonal character of the strain. The hypothesis of manually-transmitted infection due to contamination from multiple sources was reinforced by the fact that the epidemic persisted in spite of the elimination of the main human infectious source and an absence of risk factors determined by the case-control study. The role of environmental factors in the persistence of this outbreak of MRSA infection has been considered. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.