Abstract

HENRIQUES, A.; VASCONCELOS, C.  and  CERCA, N.. Why Bio films are important in nosocomial in fections: the state of the art. Arq Med [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.1, pp.27-36. ISSN 2183-2447.

Nowadays nosocomial infections are a reality in all hospital environments. They are the cause of a high number of infections, morbidity and mortality, and are recognised as being notoriously difficult to eradicate. One of the reasons for the problems in the treatment of nosocomial infection is the fact that many of the pathogens involved in this infections form biofilms. Biofilms are normally defined as communities of microorganisms adhered to a surface and surrounded by a polymeric matrix of extracellular components, such as proteins, polysaccharides and e DNA. The growth of microorganisms in biofilms makes their eradication difficult as this type of growth can be considered an adaptation of the pathogens in order to improve their persistence in the host. As such it is of special interest to account for the role of biofilms in nosocomial infections so that the appropriate approach can be taken in order to eradicate them. The aim of this article is to review the existing information on the prevalence of nosocomial infections potentially caused by biofilms.

Keywords : Biofilms; Infections; nosocomial; antibiotic resistance; staphylococcus aureus; staphylococcus epidermidis.

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