Nosocomial urinary tract infections caused by two O-serotypes of Providencia stuartii in one hospital

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Abstract
P. stuartii nosocomial urinary tract infections occurring in the same hospital over an 18-mo. period of retrospective study were shown, by serotyping and biotyping, to have been caused by 2 endemic strains. Two episodes, involving 38 patients in 1 ward and 11 patients in another, were caused by a mannitol-positive strain of serotype O55. Transmission of the strain through the movements of 1 patient appeared to have been the basis for the introduction of the agent from 1 ward to the other. In another episode, involving 2 patients in a 3rd ward, the infections were caused by a mannitol-negative strain of serotype O49. The study demonstrated the usefulness of serotyping and biotyping in epidemiological studies of infections caused by P. stuartii.