Bacterial colonization of burned and devitalized tissue is the rule in burn patients. Although improvements in antimicrobial therapy, wound management and nutrition have decreased the rates of infection and associated mortality in ICU, it remains a major concern especially in burn and trauma patients. Current therapeutic issues include indeed the emergence of bacterial strains with multiple antimicrobial resistance, such as pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin resistant Staphylo-coccus aureus (MRSA), and a changing pattern of antimicrobial susceptibility among many gram-negative organisms. This presentation will review common and some more peculiar aspects of infections in burn patients (HIV detection in skin homograft). The value of molecular biology techniques (PCR) for early diagnosis as well as susceptibility testing (e.g. MRSA) will be illustrated in this setting.
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