Molecular typing of Candida albicans isolates from patients and health care workers in a neonatal intensive care unit

Aims:  The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic relatedness between Candida albicans isolates and to assess their nosocomial origin and the likeliness of cross-transmission between health care workers (HCWs) and hospitalized neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods:  We retrospectively analysed 82 isolates obtained from 40 neonates and seven isolates from onychomycosis of the fingers of five HCWs in a Tunisian NICU by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis with CA1 and CA2 as primers. Results:  In RAPD analysis, the discriminatory power (DP) of CA1 and CA2 primers was 0·86 and 0·81, respectively. A h…