| a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis study of mycobacterium fortuitum in a caribbean setting underlines high genetic diversity of the strains and excludes nosocomial outbreaks. | among rapidly-growing opportunistic mycobacteria, organisms of the mycobacterium fortuitum-mycobacterium chelonae complex (m. fortuitum, m. chelonae, m. abscessus and m. peregrinum) were isolated in significantly higher numbers during the period 1993-99 from clinical samples in guadeloupe, martinique and french guiana. based on biochemical and cultural tests and pcr-restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) of the hsp65 gene, 51 isolates from 47 patients were unambiguously identified as m. ... | 2002 | 12139429 |