These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: [Coagulase-negative staphylococci in normal and chronically inflamed conjunctiva].
    Author: Grasbon T, Miño de Kaspar H, Klauss V.
    Journal: Ophthalmologe; 1995 Dec; 92(6):793-801. PubMed ID: 8563427.
    Abstract:
    UNLABELLED: This study examines the prevalence of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species in normal and mildly inflamed conjunctiva, their sensitivity to antibiotics, and their relationship to the remaining flora. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 99 patients including 9 HIV-positives in an early stage of the infection, 100 conjunctival swabs were taken and microbiologically investigated for bacteria and fungi. Thirty-four were from healthy eyes. 40 were from patients with chronic (n = 28) and unspecific (n = 12) conjunctivitis, 17 were from patients with a variety of outer inflammatory ocular conditions, and 9 were from the HIV group from uninfected (n = 6) and infected (n = 3) conjunctivae. Samples from each patient were collected with three moistened cotton swabs and directly inoculated onto five different agars, followed by immersion into three specific culture broths. Staphylococci were identified species-wise, the other microorganisms genus-wise. Sensitivity to a broad spectrum of antibiotics was determined by agar diffusion tests. OUTCOME: Staphylococci were found in 89%, which was the highest prevalence genus-wise. Of those, coagulase-negative species accounted for 86%, while coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 12% of all swabs. In the 86 smears positive for coagulase-negative staphylococci, 151 different strains were isolated. In these strains, resistance to the 13 tested antibiotics varied from 0% for vancomycin to 66% for penicillin. Strains which were isolated from patients with chronic conjunctivitis showed a greater range of resistance than those from normal flora, with significant levels for ciprofloxacin, gentamycin and kanamycin (Mann-Whitney) U-test: P < 0.05). All except six strains of staphylococci were identified strains represented ten species, of which Staphylococcus epidermidis was most prevalent (74%), but only made up 70% of all isolated strains of the coagulase-negative staphylococci. Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative bacteria were found significantly more commonly in patients which chronic conjunctivitis than in healthy eyes, while coagulase-negative species of the Micrococcaceae family were significantly more prevalent in the healthy than in the chronically inflamed conjunctiva (chi-square: P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The conjunctiva can simultaneously host several stems of coagulase-negative staphylococci, which differ in regard to species and resistance to antibiotics. This variety might indicate a microbiological balance of the conjunctiva and be reduced in chronic inflammatory conditions. In patients with chronic conjunctivitis the risk for multiresistant coagulase-negative staphylococci is increased.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]