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Médecine thérapeutique / Pédiatrie

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The use of molecular markers for the analysis of initial infection and subsequent monitoring of nosocomial infections Volume 15, supplement 1, Novembre 2012

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Authors
Université Paris Diderot - Paris-7, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Assistance publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), hôpital Robert-Debré, service de microbiologie, UFR de médecine, 48, boulevard Sérurier, 75019 Paris, France

The investigation of cases of nosocomial infections is similar to a police investigation, in that the spread of a bacterial epidemic strain is traced within the hospital environment. The laboratory plays an important role in these epidemiological studies involving comparative analysis of bacterial strains using different screening methods. Because of the many drawbacks of phenotypic markers (biotyping, antibiotyping and serotyping), molecular screening methods, analysing DNA itself, are promoted. These screening methods are used to demonstrate the transmission of the same strain from patient to patient, to distinguish between recurrence and re-infection, to identify the routes of contamination, and to track the spread of clones within a population.