Enterotoxin production by Staphylococcus aureus clones and detection of Brazilian epidemic MRSA clone (III::B:A) among isolates from food handlers

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a major bacterial pathogen involved in a wide range of diseases varying from infections to toxaemia. Staphylococcal food-poisoning syndrome is caused by ingestion of bacterial enterotoxins. These toxins are microbial superantigens and may also be virulence factors involved in staphylococcal infection. This study determined the enterotoxin types and pulsed-field gel patterns found among S. aureus isolates obtained from food handlers in community or hospital-located kitchens. Staphylococcal enterotoxin C was the most frequent enterotoxin produced. The data also suggested horizontal spread of ent genes among isolates belonging to the Brazilian epidemic MRSA clone 1II::B:A. A subclone of MRSA clone 1II::B:A was isolated from two hospital kitchen workers. This was the first report of this clone from a hospital in Teresina, Piaui State, although the presence of this MRSA clone has already been reported in six other Brazilian cities.

Spread of the Brazilian epidemic clone of a multiresistant MRSA in two cities in Argentina

“…Epidemiological studies using molecular analysis have provided new insights into the origin and evolution of pathogenic bacteria. This approach was used to study the spread and evolution of a unique MRSA clone in Brazil [9,16,17]. This study looked for this clonal type in another South American country, Argentina.…”

Produção de enterotoxinas e da toxina da síndrome do choque tóxico por cepas de Staphylococcus aureus isoladas na mastite bovina

“…(2000) em Minas Gerais, a exemplo dos observados por alguns autores em outras regiões do mundo (Jones e Wieneke, 1986;Matsunaga et al,1993;Ichikawa et al,1996;Takeuchi et al, 1998). Embora Soares et al (1997) tenham assinalado que a co-produção de diferentes tipos de toxinas possa sugerir maior toxigenicidade dessas cepas na patogenia das infecções produzidas por esses microrganismos, e Refai et al (1988) tenham demonstrado a relação existente entre a atividade enzimática específica, a enterotoxigenicidade e a resistência dos S. aureus a vários antibióticos, principalmente naquelas produtoras de mais de um tipo de enterotoxina, os autores citados não discutiram a importância desse resultado.…”

Enterotoxin production by coagulase-negative staphylococci in restaurant workers from Kuwait City may be a potential cause of food poisoning

“…Despite these findings, studies that have investigated the sources of staphylococcal food poisoning have focused almost exclusively on the carriage of enterotoxigenic S. aureus [7,8,, and rarely on enterotoxin-producing CNS [ 16,251, in food handlers. As the human nares and fingers are the important sources of S. aureus contaminating food in restaurants [25,26] and because CNS inhabit the human skin and mucous membranes, they can also contaminate food from the hands of food handlers if proper care is not taken when preparing and serving food. Therefore, enterotoxigenic CNS strains may contribute to staphylococcal food poisoning, as any enterotoxigenic staphylococcal strain can be involved in food poisoning [29].…”