Pseudomonas a eruginosa using a DNA probe . Can J Infect Dis 1992;3(6) :299-306 . A DNA probe encod ing the Pseudomonas aerug inosa pili n gene has been developed in the a uth ors · la bora to ry a nd has been shown to be a usefu l epidemiological tool. In th e p resen t s tudy this tec hnology. toge ther wi Lh other typ ing met hods. has been used to cle nnc re la ted ness a n d po si blc tra ns m ission routes of P aerug inosa strains isolated in severa l hospita l wa rds. Clu s te rs o f P aerug inosa infec! ions . s u s pected to be the result of no. ocom ia l tra ns m ission . cl cvclopccl in a ge ne ra l inte ns ive ca re un it (I CU) a nd a neu rosu rgica l wa rci / ICU. as we ll as in a b urn uni t. were tu d iccl us ing a ntibiogra m s . li popolysacc ha ri cl c-s crotypin g. a nd ge ne p robe ana lysis. Res ults of these tucli cs d em onstra ted tha t eac h of the ge ne ra l a nd ne urosu rgical ICU isola tes were diffe rent. m a king nosocomi a l tra ns m ission ve ry un likely . Howeve r . wiU1in the burn uni t. pa ti ent isolates had iden tical p rofil es. s uggesting tha t spread be tween pati e n ts was occurring or tha t a com mon source of infection was p resent. Changes in infecti on cont ro l measures wi thin the un it were introd u ced and may have con tri b u ted to e ra dication of the ou tb reak DNA probe stu d ies we re \·a lu able in cla rifyi ng cpiclemiological related ness of isolates that was not evide nt wilh the other typ ing s tra tegies a nd idc nlined a po s iblc bum -associated stra in . Etudes epidemiologiques sur les infections nosocomiales a Pseudomonas aeruginosa a !'aide d'une sonde d 'ADN RESUME: Une sonde d"ADN po ur l' cncocl a(jc du ge ne de Pseudomonas aerug inosa a etc m ise a u point cl a ns cc Jaboraloire et s·csl revclee un ou ti l cpicl cm iologiq uc u ti le. Dans Ia prcsen tc e lude . cctle technologic. de memc que cl'autres methodes de lypage. ont etc uti lisces po u r clc nni r lcs inte rre la ti ons e t lcs voics de transm ission possibles de souc hes de P. aerug inosa isolees cla ns d iffc rcntes u n ites hospita lieres. Des infec ti ons a P. aerug inosa. presumem c n t a ttri b uables a u nc trans mission nosocomi a le, om de observees da ns unc u nite de soins intc ns ifs gene raux. clans u nc un ite de soins imcnsifs ne uroch irurgicaux et dans unc unite de brt:ll es. ou ell cs on t etc etuclices a !'a ide cl'a n libiogrammcs. de mCLhocles de typage serologiqu e pa r li popolysacc ha ri des ct cl'a na lyscs par sonde gc nc ti q u c. Lcs rcs ul tats d e ces e tudes on t dcm ontrc que chacu n des isolats p relevc d a ns les uni tes de soin s inle ns ifs ge nc ra u x ctncu ro-chirurgica u x Clail d iiTere n t. ce q ui a perm is d'cca rte r !' hypot hese de Ia tra ns miss ion nosocom ia lc. Ce pe nda nl. a u sein d e !' u nite des brt:ll es. les isolats etaient scmblab les cl'un pa ti ent a !'a u tre . cc qui do nne a pen se r qLd l y a cu conta m ina tion entre lcs pati en ts ou qu'i l y a c u u nc so urce commune a !'i nfecti o n . Des mod ifi cation s a u ...