Characterization of community and hospital staphylococcus aureus isolates in Southampton, UK

S. M. Green, P. Marsh, N. Ahmad, J. M.C. Jefferies, S. C. Clarke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus infections are a burden to healthcare systems. There remains a lack of understanding on the relative contributions of S. aureus infection in the healthcare and community settings. In this study, 59 S. aureus isolates were selected for molecular analysis. The mobile variant staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type IV was present in both healthcare-associated meticillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) and community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA), as was the Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene. PFGE identified 24 distinct clonal groups whilst multi-locus sequence typing identified 26 different sequence types, including four with new combinations of alleles. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a selection of CA and HA MSSA and MRSA strains have been subjected to molecular analysis and comparison in the UK. Definitions for CA-MRSA need further debate as the movement of strains between healthcare and community settings is confounding the use of epidemiological definitions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1084-1088
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Medical Microbiology
Volume59
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2010
Externally publishedYes

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