Ultra-sonic nebulizers as a potential source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus causing an outbreak in a university tertiary care hospital.

An outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occurred on a head and neck surgical (HNS) ward of a university hospital in Amsterdam. The outbreak lasted from May 2000 until November 2000, and MRSA spread to two intensive care units. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis indicated that a single clone was responsible for the outbreak.