Infection associated with modern surgical procedures

Summary In postoperative wound infections due to Escherichia coli, 59% of the sepsis was caused by ten O-serotypes. For each serotype, except O6, the frequency of sepsis mirrors the frequency of carriage. Endogenous wound infection: evidence was presented but not discussed. Eleven patients had wound infections due to serotype O6, five were carriers of this serotype at the time of operation. Serotype O6 occurred significantly more frequently in wounds than in carriage specimens. In this study the strains showed enhanced infectivity in wounds.