TY - JOUR
T1 - Staphylococcus argenteus transmission among healthy Royal Marines
T2 - A molecular epidemiology case-study
AU - Jauneikaite, Elita
AU - Pichon, Bruno
AU - Mosavie, Mia
AU - Fallowfield, Joanne L.
AU - Davey, Trish
AU - Thorpe, Neil
AU - Nelstrop, Andrew
AU - Sriskandan, Shiranee
AU - Lamb, Lucy E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Objectives During a prospective study of S. aureus carriage in Royal Marines recruits, six S. argenteus strains were identified in four recruits. As S. argenteus sepsis leads to mortality similar to S. aureus, we determined the potential for within same troop transmission, to evaluate future outbreak risk.Methods We used whole-genome sequencing to characterise S. argenteus and investigate phylogenetic relationships between isolates.Results S. argenteus strains (t5078, ST2250) were detected in 4/40 recruits in the same troop (training cohort) in weeks 1, 6 or 15 of training. No mec, tsst or LukPV genes were detected. We identified differences of 1-17 core SNPs between S. argenteus from different recruits. In two recruits, two S. argenteus strains were isolated; these could be distinguished by 2 and 15 core SNPs.Conclusions The identification of S. argenteus within a single troop from the total recruit population suggests a common source for transmission, though high number of SNPs were identified, both within-host and within-cluster. The high number of SNPs between some isolates may indicate a common source of diverse isolates or a high level of S. argenteus mutation in carriage. S. argenteus is newly recognized species; and understanding of the frequency of genetic changes during transmission and transition from asymptomatic carriage to disease is required. Crown Copyright (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association.
AB - Objectives During a prospective study of S. aureus carriage in Royal Marines recruits, six S. argenteus strains were identified in four recruits. As S. argenteus sepsis leads to mortality similar to S. aureus, we determined the potential for within same troop transmission, to evaluate future outbreak risk.Methods We used whole-genome sequencing to characterise S. argenteus and investigate phylogenetic relationships between isolates.Results S. argenteus strains (t5078, ST2250) were detected in 4/40 recruits in the same troop (training cohort) in weeks 1, 6 or 15 of training. No mec, tsst or LukPV genes were detected. We identified differences of 1-17 core SNPs between S. argenteus from different recruits. In two recruits, two S. argenteus strains were isolated; these could be distinguished by 2 and 15 core SNPs.Conclusions The identification of S. argenteus within a single troop from the total recruit population suggests a common source for transmission, though high number of SNPs were identified, both within-host and within-cluster. The high number of SNPs between some isolates may indicate a common source of diverse isolates or a high level of S. argenteus mutation in carriage. S. argenteus is newly recognized species; and understanding of the frequency of genetic changes during transmission and transition from asymptomatic carriage to disease is required. Crown Copyright (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association.
KW - ST2250
KW - Staphylococcus argenteus, carriage
KW - Whole genome sequencing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114703320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jinf.2021.08.040
DO - 10.1016/j.jinf.2021.08.040
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114703320
SN - 0163-4453
VL - 83
SP - 550
EP - 553
JO - Journal of Infection
JF - Journal of Infection
IS - 5
ER -
