부산대학교 도서관

Purpose:Staphylococcus epidermidisis a major commensal bacteria. Various strains of S. epidermidisare capable of forming biofilms by attaching to several surfaces. Biofilm-forming ability of this organism is found to be associated with many hospital-acquired infections and can even impair wound healing. S. epidermidisstrains producing polysaccharide-biofilms possess the intercellular adhesion (ica) operon while strains forming the protein adhesion-mediated biofilms possess the accumulation associated protein (aap) gene. We screened for biofilm-forming S. epidermidisin the skin of healthy individuals in Tamil Nadu in order to determine the risk of acquiring S. epidermidisinfections in hospital settings. Materials and Methods:Skin swabs were taken from seventy two subjects residing in Chennai with healthy skin who showed no visible signs of skin lesions or allergies. S. epidermidiswas isolated from 58 samples out of the 72 collected. The presence of icaoperon in S. epidermidisisolates was determined by PCR and biofilm production was examined using quantitative tissue culture plate assay. Results:Majority of the samples (47/72; 65.3%) showed pure S. epidermidisgrowth, (14/72; 19.4%) showed pure Staphylococcus aureusgrowth and the remainder (11/72; 15.3%) showed mixed growth. Biofilm-forming S. epidermidiswere found in the majority of samples (53/58; 91.4%) and icaoperon was detected in 19 samples out of 58 (32.8%) which is a significantly higher percentage when compared to other studies conducted at different parts of the globe (P= 0.0003). Conclusion:We inferred that icaoperon and biofilm-forming S. epidermidisare common in the healthy skin of individuals in Tamil Nadu. Measures have to be taken to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired S. epidermidisinfections.