Strains from most patients separated into different EK types as expected, but the same three EK patterns were also displayed in multiple patients. Strains from patients 1, 15, 21, and 24 showed the same EK pattern and were grouped into one type. Patients 41, 70, and 76 (TS only) harbored strains with the same EK pattern and were grouped into another type. Strains from patients 88 and 89 were grouped into another EK type.
However, further examination of the strains with REAG-S and REAG-B indicated that these groupings were only partially accurate. EK was correct to group the strains from patients 15 and 24 together, as well as strains from patients 88 and 89. The high percentage of similarity values of both REAG-S and REAG-B for these strains supported these groupings (Table 1). A plausible explanation for these two instances of different patients having a high percentage of similarity values would be patient-to-patient transmission or environment-to-patient contamination. Potentially epidemiologically related patients 15 and 24 were in the ICU within the same month and there was an overlap in the ICU stay for patients 88 and 89