[Genotyping of Shigella flexneri 2a strains isolated from patients with acute dysentery in St. Petersburg].

Polymerase chain reaction with universal primers (UP-PCR) was used for the genotyping of 76 S.flexneri 2a cultures isolated from patients with acute dysentery in infectious and psychoneurological hospitals of St. Petersburg. 9 types were determined, and each of them included cultures with identical UP-PCR patterns. The population of the infective agent was more heterogeneous in psychoneurological hospitals where the change of types was registered in May-September 1995. Some of these types were probably epidemic strains. UP-PCR was found to be a promising method increasing the efficiency of traditional epidemiological analysis.