JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, N.I.H., EXTRAMURAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Clonal diversity and epidemiological characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus: high prevalence of oxacillin-susceptible mecA-positive Staphylococcus aureus (OS-MRSA) associated with clinical isolates in Brazil.

BMC Microbiology 2016 June 22
BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus is the major cause of global and nosocomial infections with a significant impact in hospitals worldwide. Our objective was to investigate clinical and molecular characteristics of S. aureus isolates causing infections in patients admitted to hospitals from Recife city, Brazil, and investigate the prevalence of oxacillin-susceptible mecA-positive S. aureus (OS-MRSA) in the region, as well as genetically characterize the isolates and compare with epidemic clones.

RESULTS: We characterized 89 isolates in total, 31 clinical methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 58 methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) isolates by PFGE, MLST, spa typing and SCCmec genotyping. Isolates belonging to international MRSA clones were present: Brazilian epidemic clone (BEC) (61 % of MRSA isolates), Paediatric (36 %), New York/Japan (3 %). Some MSSA isolates were related to MRSA clones: USA400-related (10 % of MSSA isolates), Berlin clone (2 %), Paediatric (14 %), New York/Japan (2 %) and Southwest Pacific clone (17 %). MLST revealed new sequence types (ST's): ST2381, ST2382, and ST2383 and new spa types: 10548 and 10550. Among isolates phenotypically identified as MSSA by antimicrobial susceptibility assays, we verified 30 oxacillin-susceptible isolates, which exhibited the mecA gene, without mec complex amplification and were thus classified as OS-MRSA. We observed clonal spread of MRSA and MSSA, including OS-MRSA, within several areas of the main hospital investigated and closely related isolates between hospitals analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest a possible spread of the strains in hospital environment that could be responsible for nosocomial infections. We documented the presence of several MRSA clones, as well as new MLST and spa types, that were responsible for severe infections in hospitalized patients. The finding of OS-MRSA isolates could have implications for therapy, because testing for mecA and PBP2a is not a routine procedure performed by clinical microbiology laboratories in Brazil and, as consequence, these isolates could be misclassified as MSSA. Our data alert to the necessity to develop more effective strategies for epidemiological control of S. aureus in order to avoid an increase of hospital infections provoked by this pathogen. We reinforce the use of genetic methods, in addition to phenotypic tests, for a precise identification of MRSA.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app