Comparison of Austrian, Hungarian and Macedonian methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus strains in relation to prevalence of cytotoxin genes

Molecular and phenotypic characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from a tertiary hospital in the Philippines

Background

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a major threat to public health worldwide. There are relatively few studies addressing the molecular epidemiology of MRSA in the Philippines.

Methods

This study characterized MRSA isolates in terms of their antimicrobial susceptibility profile, the SCCmec type, and the presence of lukF-lukS genes for Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and determined the relatedness of the isolates by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results

A total of 236 S. aureus were isolated from clinical specimens of the Makati Medical Center in Makati City, Philippines, between January 2013 and June 2013, and 108 or 45.76 % were found to be MRSA. Results showed that the MRSA strains were resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (20.37 %), azithromycin (10.19 %), gentamicin (5.56 %), and linezolid (4.63 %), while all were susceptible to vancomycin, nitrofurantoin, levofloxacin, minocycline, rifampin, and tetracycline. One isolate was found positive for inducible clindamycin resistance. All of the 108 MRSA strains were confirmed to carry the mecA and SCCmec genes, while the PVL genes were detected in 41 (38 %) of the isolates. Ninety-six isolates (89 %) carried SCCmec type IV, while the remaining isolates carried SCCmec type I (11 isolates) or type III (one isolate).

Conclusion

This study is the first to present a comprehensive MRSA surveillance data with molecular characterization in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in slaughtered pigs and abattoir workers in Italy

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a pathogen present in the hospital environment (HA-MRSA), in the community (CA-MRSA) and in livestock, including pigs (LA-MRSA). MRSA may enter the human food chain during slaughtering and may infect humans coming into direct contact with pigs or pork products. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of MRSA isolated from pigs and workers at industrial abattoirs in southern Italy. A total of 215 pig nasal swabs were screened for the presence of MRSA using PCR. An MRSA isolate was detected from each mecA/nuc PCR-positive sample and characterized by spa-typing, Multi-Locus Sequence Typing, SCC-mec and Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL), and also tested for the production of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs). Eighty-one MRSA isolates (37.6%) were obtained from the 215 pig nasal swabs; 37 of these isolates were further characterized, and showed 18 different spa-types and 8 different STs. The most frequently recovered STs were ST398 (CC398-t034, t011, t899, t1939 - 43.2%) followed by ST8 (CC8-t008, t064, t2953, t5270 - 24.3%) and ST1 (CC1-t127, t174, t2207 - 10.8%). Nine MRSA isolates were obtained from the 113 human swabs; the isolates showed 5 different spa-types and 5 different STs, including the novel ST2794 (t159). The most representative STs recovered were ST1 (CC1-t127) and ST398 (CC398-t034) (33.3%). None of the MRSA isolates showed the ability to produce SEs and PVL and all resulted resistant to two or more classes of antimicrobials. This study shows the great genetic diversity of MRSA strains in slaughtered pigs and in abattoir employees in Italy, and clearly demonstrates the need for improved hygiene standards to reduce the risk of occupational and food-borne infection linked to the handling/consumption of raw pork containing MRSA.

Low nasal carriage of drug-resistant bacteria among medical students in Vienna

BACKGROUND

Multi-drug resistant bacteria are increasing and remain a major public health challenge worldwide. In order to understand the potential role of medical students as a reservoir for circulating pathogenic bacteria and their transmission, we analysed the nasal colonisation among 86 clinically exposed medical students of the Medical University of Vienna, which is integrated into General Hospital of Vienna.

METHODS

Nasal swabs obtained from 79 students were eligible for further analysis. Nasal swabs were analysed for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with special emphasis on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

RESULTS

25.3% of participants were positive for Staphylococcus aureus colonization; none of the isolates showed methicillin-resistance or expression of Pantoin-Valentine-leukocidin. However, 2.5% were positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis. No participant showed Streptococcus pneumoniae colonisation. Furthermore, 10.1% of the samples displayed growth of Gram-negative bacteria, yet none showed any relevant drug-resistance.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our investigation did not reveal any clinically relevant multi-drug resistant bacterial colonisation among clinically exposed medical students in Vienna. This might be explained by well-established hygienic precautions or comparably low circulation of resistant bacteria.

Role of Direct Bioautographic Method for Detection of Antistaphylococcal Activity of Essential Oils

The aim of the present study was the chemical characterization of some traditionally used and therapeutically relevant essential oils (thyme, eucalyptus, cinnamon bark, clove, and tea tree) and the optimized microbiological investigation of the effect of these oils on clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). The chemical composition of the oils was analyzed by TLC, and controlled by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The antibacterial effect was investigated using a TLC-bioautographic method. Antibacterial activity of thyme, clove and cinnamon oils, as well as their main components (thymol, carvacrol, eugenol, and cinnamic aldehyde) was observed against all the bacterial strains used in this study. The essential oils of eucalyptus and tea tree showed weak activity in the bioautographic system. On the whole, the antibacterial activity of the essential oils could be related to their most abundant components, but the effect of the minor components should also be taken into consideration. Direct bioautography is more cost-effective and better in comparison with traditional microbiological laboratory methods (e.g. disc-diffusion, agar-plate technique).

Characterization of virulence factors and genetic background of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Peking University People's Hospital between 2005 and 2009

The aim of this study was to investigate both the genetic features of MRSA strains and the occurrence of virulence factors produced by Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, China, between 2005 and 2009. A total of 179 S. aureus strains were isolated, 139 of which were MRSA. The MRSA strains were characterized epidemiologically by SCCmec typing, spa typing and agr typing, then were classified into different genetic groups. The prevalence of genes coding for 14 exotoxins and eight adhesion factors among the S. aureus samples was assessed via polymerase chain reaction. Cluster analysis based on virulence factors-encoding gene content was performed to divide the MRSA isolates into valid clusters. Correspondence analysis was done to analyze the correlation between virulence factors clusters and genetic groups. JCSC1716-agrI-t030 (67.6%), SCCmec-IIIA-agrI-t030 (14.4%), SCCmec-IIIA-agrI-t037 (8.6%) and SCCmecII-agrII-t002 (2.2%) were four predominant MRSA clones. PVL was positive only in MSSA strains, there were at least three superantigenic toxins in our HA-MRSA clones, the prevalence of 16 virulence factors genes (sea, seb, sec, sed, seg, sei, sej, pvl, lukE-lukD, eta, bbp, can, ebp, clfA, fib, fnbB) in MRSA and MSSA was found to be significantly different from MSSA (P < 0.05). Results of correspondence analysis among clusters based on virulence factors genes and groups based on genetic typing illustrated not only the correspondence relationship between groups and clusters overall (P < 0.001), but also the genetic diversity of MRSA strains with respect to virulence factors genes.

Quantitative differences in antibiotic resistance between methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in Hungary, Austria and Macedonia

The aim of this study was to compare the quantitative susceptibility of methicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA) strains from three European countries to nine antistaphylococcal agents. The antibiotic susceptibility of 274 MRSA and 284 MSSA strains from Hungary, Austria and macedonia was tested by the broth microdilution method. The clonal relationship of strains was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Intermediate susceptibility to vancomycin appeared in Macedonian MRSA strains. Macedonian MRSA strains had high-level amikacin and gentamicin resistance. MSSA strains generally were susceptible to all drugs at minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC(50)) except for gentamicin resistance in Macedonian strains. In Hungary and Austria a common antibiotic resistance phenotype of MRSA predominated, while in macedonia three other phenotypes were also prevalent. Geographical differences in the resistance of S. aureus are still high. Since resistance levels of MRSA and MSSA strains differ extensively, they should be considered separately for antibiotic resistance analysis.