Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ann Lab Med. 2012 May;32(3):206-9. doi: 10.3343/alm.2012.32.3.206. Epub 2012 Apr 18.
We performed surveillance cultures of the surfaces of X-ray cassettes to assess contamination with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
The surfaces of 37 X-ray cassettes stored in a radiology department were cultured using mannitol salt agar containing 6 µg/mL oxacillin. Suspected methicillin-resistant staphylococcal colonies were isolated and identified by biochemical testing. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis was performed to determine the clonal relationships of the contaminants.
Six X-ray cassettes (16.2%) were contaminated with MRSA. During the isolation procedure, we also detected 19 X-ray cassettes (51.4%) contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus haemolyticus (MRSH), identified as yellow colonies resembling MRSA on mannitol salt agar. PFGE analysis of the MRSA and MRSH isolates revealed that most isolates of each organism were identical or closely related to each other, suggesting a common source of contamination.
X-ray cassettes, which are commonly in direct contact with patients, were contaminated with MRSA and MRSH. In hospital environments, contaminated X-ray cassettes may serve as fomites for methicillin-resistant staphylococci.
我们对 X 光片盒的表面进行了监测培养，以评估耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）的污染情况。
使用含有 6μg/ml 苯唑西林的甘露醇盐琼脂对存储在放射科的 37 个 X 光片盒的表面进行了培养。通过生化试验对疑似耐甲氧西林葡萄球菌的菌落进行了分离和鉴定。对污染菌进行脉冲场凝胶电泳（PFGE）分析，以确定污染物的克隆关系。
有 6 个（16.2%）X 光片盒受到了 MRSA 的污染。在分离过程中，我们还发现了 19 个（51.4%）受耐甲氧西林溶血葡萄球菌（MRSH）污染的 X 光片盒，其特征为甘露醇盐琼脂上类似于 MRSA 的黄色菌落。MRSA 和 MRSH 分离株的 PFGE 分析表明，每个生物体的大多数分离株彼此相同或密切相关，表明存在共同的污染来源。
与患者直接接触的 X 光片盒受到了 MRSA 和 MRSH 的污染。在医院环境中，受污染的 X 光片盒可能成为耐甲氧西林葡萄球菌的传播媒介。
