[Nosocomial infective agents in a surgical intensive care unit. III. Spreading of Staphylococcus aureus with regard to phage typing analysis (author's transl)].

The colonization of a surgical intensive care unit with Staphylococcus aureus was studied over a period of 16 withdrawal days. During this survey samples were taken from medical and nursing staff, patients and their inaminate environment. To make statements about the potential sources and routes of transmission of Staph. aureus we investigated the resistance situation (18 tested chemotherapeutical agents) and phage lysis patterns of about 100 isolates. By means of different examples could be demonstrated that identical resistance patterns may lead to false epidemiological conclusions. Only the use of phage pattern analysis seems to enable well-founded hints.