[Etiologic factors of pleural empyema as a potential source of nosocomial infections].

Pleural empyema still comprises an important therapeutic problem despite the availability of effective antibiotic therapy. This disorder is characterised by 20% mortality rate. Moreover, the involvement of multi-drug resistant bacterial strains may pose a risk of a nosocomial spread to other hospitalised patients. In the present study we have analysed 184 bacterial strains isolated from 63 patients with pleural empyema. A predominance of aerobic bacteria was detected, both Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli. Staphylococci isolated from the clinical samples were characterised by a high percentage of strains resistant to gentamicin (86.3%) and methicillin (38.2%). The other important etiological agents were Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-negative enteric rods of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Only 1 strain of anaerobic bacteria was detected. The enteric bacilli were characterised by a low percentage of isolates susceptible to most of the tested antibiotics (< 60%), with an exception of ciprofloxacin (68%) and imipenem (100%). These multi-drug resistant strains may spread nosocomially to other patients.