Introduction:The pathogenicity of Staphylococcus aureus depends on various bacterial surface components and extracellular proteins. S. aureus expresses a variety of virulence factors, including Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl). pvl is a cytotoxin produced by S. aureus that causes leukocyte destruction and tissue necrosis. Despite the presumed importance of pvl as a virulence factor, few data are available on its prevalence among S. aureus isolates in our area.