Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, Moscow, Russia
Aim. To study etiologic role of microorganisms during wound infection and elucidation of their populations interaction in patients with burns. Materials and methods. 2137 patients with wound infection treated in burn center were studied. 3179 samples of wound exudates and 6501 strains of microorganisms were studied. Assessment of microorganism’s etiologic role was carried out using results of calculation of various statistic indexes, including indexes of ecological similarities of microorganisms in the wound (indexes of contamination, prevalence or persistence, incidence). Ecological similarity of wounds’ microflora was determined by calculation of the coefficient Kj. Results. It was established that Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of mono- and mixed wound infections. It was determined that Kj value for common agents points to antagonism or associative interaction. During particular time periods of the study values of Kj significantly differed and depended from species. Specifically, for Pseudomonas aeruginosa the values of Kj were equal or exceeded 30% during several years. It was the first time when correlation between persistence and ecological similarity indexes was studied in agents of wound infections. Conclusion. In order to reveal factors influencing on microbial etiology of mixed wound infections it is reasonable to consider the nature of interspecies interactions of causative agents.
Zh. Mikrobiol. (Moscow), 2009, No. 6, P. Ñ. 3—7