Heterogeneity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Norway.

Our objective was to look for differences in susceptibility patterns between Norwegian and imported methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. All MRSA isolates from the participating hospitals (87 isolates from 81 patients) throughout the period 1994-98 were examined, to study the clonal distribution of MRSA isolated in Norway and to identify any epidemic clones among the isolates. We found that imported isolates were resistant to an average of 5.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial respiratory pathogens from Norway is low.

Objectives: To determine the degree of bacterial susceptibility to the most commonly used drugs for respiratory infections in Norway, and to find if bacterial resistance is emerging.

Methods: Clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and group A streptococci from respiratory tract specimens and from the eye were collected from different parts of Norway during two study periods. During the first period (1993-1994), three laboratories, covering 15% of the Norwegian population, participated.

Urinary tract infections in Norway: bacterial etiology and susceptibility. A retrospective study of clinical isolates.

Objectives: The objective of the present study was to determine bacterial etiology and susceptibility in urinary tract infections. The study was designed as a retrospective study of urine samples from patients both inside and outside hospitals and nursing homes that were received at our laboratory between 1 January 1997 and 31 October 1999. The Telemark Biomedical Center receives all the medical microbiology specimens from hospitals, nursing homes and general practitioners in the County of Telemark (165,000 inhabitants), Norway.

Human papillomavirus infection in cervical biopsies from Norwegian gynecological in-patients.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blotting were used to assess the prevalence of HPV in cervical biopsies of 100 women who were treated at the gynecology department of Telemark Central Hospital for non-cancerous conditions. Nine (9%) of the biopsies were HPV positive. Four (4%) were of HPV type 18, one (1%) was HPV11 positive, and four contained different unrecognized HPV types (HPVX).

PCR amplicon restriction endonuclease analysis of the chromosomal dhps gene of Neisseria meningitidis: a method for studying spread of the disease-causing strain in contacts of patients with meningococcal disease.

We tested two sets of primers derived from the dhps gene of Neisseria meningitidis for the amplification of meningococcal DNA by PCR. Both the NM1-NM6 primers and the NM3-NM6 primers amplified dhps DNA from all of the meningococci included in the study, resulting, in most cases, in amplicons of 0.70 and 0.

Human papillomavirus infection in Norwegian women with cervical cancer.

The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in Norwegian women with cervical cancer. We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Southern blot techniques to assess the prevalence of HPV in cervical biopsies of 133 women admitted to the Norwegian Radium Hospital for treatment of cervical cancer. At the time of sampling (from February 1988 to April 1989) about 85% of Norwegian women with cervical cancer were treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital.

Rapid diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis by polymerase chain reaction.

Rapid diagnosis of meningococcal disease followed by early treatment is essential. However, culture of blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be unsuccessful because antibiotic treatment is often started before adequate specimens are collected, and because bacteria may die during transportation to the laboratory. We have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect meningococcal DNA in a culture-negative CSF of a 15-year-old girl with meningococcal disease.