Infection with methicillin-gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains in a paediatric surgical unit in Lisbon.

The first description in Portugal of the spread of a methicillin-gentamicin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MGRSA) epidemic strain in a hospital unit is reported. Ten in-patients, out of a selected group of 200, were colonized by the epidemic strain. The strain was also isolated from one burn and from the nose of three nurses. Possible reasons for the apparent reduced communicability and low virulence of the multi-resistant strain are presented.