Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from the Arkhangelsk region, Russia: antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular epidemiology, and distribution of Panton‐Valentine leucocidin genes

Abstract

A total of 91 consecutive clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were collected at the Regional Hospital of Arkhangelsk, Russia, from May to December 2004, and examined for antimicrobial susceptibility, methicillin resistance and presence of Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) genes. Epidemiological typing was performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were examined by staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing. High-to-moderate rates of resistance to penicillin (beta-lactamase production; 93%), tetracycline (40%), erythromycin and clindamycin (32%) were observed. Forty out of ninety-one (44%) isolates were positive for PVL genes. Thirty-six (40%) PVL-positive methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains were shown by PFGE and MLST typing (ST121, ST681, ST837) to be part of a nosocomial outbreak caused by clonal complex (CC) 121. PFGE, MLST and SCCmec typing revealed three MRSA clones. Sequence type (ST) 239-III (n=11), ST1097-III (n=1) and ST8-IV (n=3) belong to CC8 of epidemic multiresistant MRSA, whereas ST426-MRSA-IV/CC395 (n=1) has not been reported previously. All MRSA strains were PVL negative. The overall results underline the necessity of microbiological sampling, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and epidemiological typing as a rational basis for antimicrobial treatment of S. aureus infections, and infection control measures to limit the spread of multiresistant MRSA and epidemic MSSA clones.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Positive Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Auckland, New Zealand

“…37%, is similar to that reported in a study conducted in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia (26). However, other studies that used a methodology similar to that of our study reported much lower prevalence rates, ranging from 7 to 12% (13,21,29).…”

High prevalence of ST121 in community-associated methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus lineages responsible for skin and soft tissue infections in Portuguese children

“…Although eight clonal types (Table 1) were identified among the isolates, 63% (n=19) belonged to a single type: PFGE A, spa type t159, sequence type (ST) 121, agr type IV. The ST121 lineage was also the predominant lineage found in MSSA isolates through Europe and Russia [23][24][25] and an identical scenario has been reported among Asiatic children in both carriage and disease isolates, and frequently associated to PVL. Of major concern was the local emergence of methicillin resistance in ST121 isolates in these pediatric communities: one MRSA isolate, PVLnegative responsible for staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome in China and two MRSA, PVL-positive, SCCmec type V isolates responsible for osteomyelitis and soft tissue abscess in Cambodia [26,27].…”

Association of Recurrent Furunculosis with Panton-Valentine Leukocidin and the Genetic Background of Staphylococcus aureus

“…SSTIs caused by luk-PV-positive MSSA CC121 strains have been reported from Saxony and Brandenburg in Germany as well as from hospitals in Russia, showing that this CC has a worldwide distribution (4,39,55,58). Similar strains also caused highly lethal community-acquired pneumonia and severe sepsis with progressive metastatic soft tissue infection (4,46), demonstrating the virulence potential of this lineage.…”