Plasmid analysis in the study of the epidemiology of nosocomial gram-positive cocci.

Gram-positive pathogens remain important causes of nosocomial infection. Plasmid analysis has provided useful information in the study of the epidemiology of these organisms, particularly Staphylococcus epidermidis. The antimicrobial resistance in these organisms seems to parallel that of gram-negative rods, with transposition, plasmid exchange, and strain dissemination interacting in the development of resistance.