Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci are the main cause of sepsis in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Central venous catheters (CVCs) are an important part of critical neonates' treatment and are associated with sepsis. The aim of this study was to investigate two outbreaks caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis associated with CVC inserted by phlebotomy in critical neonates. The surveillance was performed from January 2001 to December 2005 at the Brazilian NICU. The genotypic analysis of oxacillin susceptible S. aureus (OSSA) and oxacillin resistant S. epidermidis (ORSE) was performed based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Staphylococcus was the most frequent pathogen (65.8%) with highest incidence of CoNS (59.9%) followed by S. aureus (40.1%). During the five years of surveillance, there were two outbreaks detected, occurred in January-February/02 and August/02 and confirmed by PFGE analysis. The predisposing factors for infection corresponding to both outbreaks were: age <7 days, hospitalization > 7 days, and use of polyethylene CVC through dissection of vein (phlebotomy). This is the first relate of staphylococcal outbreaks associated with CVC inserted by phlebotomy in NICU. PFGE showed polyclonal spread of OSSA during both epidemic and endemic period, and two monoclonal outbreaks of ORSE in the same epidemic period of OSSA.

A identificação das espécies de 52 Enterococcus spp. isolados de amostras de alimentos foi realizada empregando-se duas metodologias: sistema API 20 STREP e PCR multiplex. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que 78,9% dos isolados apresentaram resultados diferentes nos dois testes utilizados. Apenas seis E. faecalis e cinco E. faecium apresentaram resultados concordantes pelos dois métodos. PCR multiplex permitiu a identificação completa de um número significantemente maior de enterococos do que o sistema API 20 STREP.

We evaluated the suitability of API 20 STREP and multiplex PCR to speciate 52 Enterococcus spp. obtained from Brazilian foods. A high percentage of isolates (78.9%) presented discrepant results between evaluated tests. Similar results were obtained for six E. faecalis and five E. faecium. The PCR multiplex was more effective than API 20 STREP for complete identification of the isolates.