Resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci in hospital patients.

Patients admitted to a district general hospital for general surgery were examined on admission and at weekly intervals for carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) in the anterior nares. Thirty-two of 100 patients were colonized with CNS resistant to three or more antibiotics on admission to hospital. Two weeks later, 16 of 22 patients who remained in hospital carried resistant CNS; in 11 of these 16 patients the resistant strain was selected or acquired while the patient was in hospital.