Prevalence and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated From Women and Children in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

The prevalent Staphylococcus aureus clones and antibiotic susceptibility profiles are known to change dynamically and geographically; however, recent S. aureus strains causing infections in women and children in China have not been characterized. In this study, we analyzed the molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of S. aureus isolated from patients in four centers for women and children in Guangzhou, China. In total, 131 S. aureus isolates (100 from children and 31 from women) were analyzed by spa typing, multi-locus sequence typing, virulence gene and antimicrobial resistance profiling, staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec typing, and mutation analyses of rpoB. A total of 58 spa types, 27 sequence types (STs), and 10 clonal complexes (CCs) were identified. While CC59 (ST59-IV, 48.8%; ST338-III, 35.7%) and CC45 (ST45-IV, 100%) were the major clones (84.4%) among MRSA isolates, CC5 (ST188, 24.3%; ST1, 21.6%) and CC398 (ST398, 70%) were the major ones (70.1%) among MSSA isolates. ST338-MRSA-III mostly found in pus but hardly in respiratory tract samples while ST45-MRSA-IV was on the opposite, even though they both found in blood and cerebrospinal fluid sample frequently. Staphylococcal enterotoxin genes seb-seq-sek were strongly associated with ST59 and ST338, while sec was associated with ST45, ST121, ST22, and ST30. All ST338, ST1232, and SCCmec III isolates carried lukF/S-PV genes. A total of 80% of ST338 isolates were resistant to erythromycin, clindamycin, and tetracycline. All ST45 isolates exhibited intermediate or complete resistance to rifampicin. In total, 481 HIS/ASN mutations in rpoB were found in rifampicin-resistant or intermediate-resistant isolates. ST338-III and ST45-IV emerged as two of three major clones in MRSA isolates from women and children in Guangzhou, China, though ST59-MRSA-IV remained the most prevalent MRSA clone. Clonal distribution of S. aureus varied, depending on the specimen source. Virulence genes and antibiograms were closely associated with the clonal lineage. These results clarified the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus from women and children in Guangzhou, China, and provide critical information for the control and treatment of S. aureus infections.

Molecular Characterizations, Virulence Determinants and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the North of Iran

“…However, low gentamycin resistance rates in Chinese and Iranian MRSA isolates have been reported [3,15,47]. All of the MRSA isolates in the present study were MDR which is in relative line with previous reports from Iran [2,14] and Taiwan [38].…”

The Genomic Context for the Evolution and Transmission of Community-Associated Staphylococcus aureus ST59 Through the Food Chain

“…Thus, Guangzhou, a city known for consumption of large amounts of aquatic products, had been one of the major distributed cities for ST59 MRSA (Li et al, 2018). In addition, the dominant ST of S. aureus isolated from patients in Guangzhou was exactly belonged to CC59 (Liang et al, 2018). Our analysis also revealed Fuzhou as a hotspot for ST59 transmission.…”

Prevalence, Characterization, and Drug Resistance of Staphylococcus Aureus in Feces From Pediatric Patients in Guangzhou, China

“…ST59, a predominant MRSA clone causing CA-MRSA infections among children (41), was not only predominant in Chinese cities, including Shanghai (39), Sichuan (42), and Taiwan (43), but also is considered to be a prevalent isolate throughout the Asia-Pacific region (44). It is worth noting that ST45, the second most prevalent MRSA strain, has an increased carriage rate in children, compared to 18.8% for the MRSA isolated in our previous study (27). ST45, known as a Berlin clone, was also a common isolate throughout European countries, and has now spread to Australia (45), Singapore (46), and China (41).…”

“…Thus, to further confirm the presence S. aureus and MRSA, we detected the expression of femB and mecA by PCR. The primers used for femB and mecA genes were described previously (27), and extracted DNA was amplified using TaqTM (Takara, Tokyo, Japan) following the manufacturer's instructions. Following amplification and extension, the PCR amplicons were separated on 1% agarose gels stained with ethidium bromide and visualized under UV illumination (TEX-20 M, Life Technologies, Carlsbad, USA).…”

“…Sequence types (STs) were determined by searching the S. aureus MLST database (https://pubmlst.org/saureus/), which included new emerging MLST alleles and MLST types. Clonal complex (CC) analysis was conducted using the eBURST v.3 programme (https://www.mlst.net/eburst/) according to our previously described protocol (27). Based on STs, a UPGMA dendrogram was constructed with START2.…”