Prevalence of resistance and toxin genes in community-acquired and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant clinical isolates.

OBJECTIVES

Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) is one of the major health hazards and became of greater public health concern since the emergence of community-acquired MRSA. This work aimed to study the prevalence of , , , -PV, -PV (PVL), I, and II genes among community-acquired (CA) hospital-acquired (HA) MRSA to increase vigilance in the diagnosis and management of suspected infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

isolates recovered from clinical samples were classified into community or hospital-acquired and tested for their antibiotic susceptibility against 19 antibiotics. All isolates were screened for , , -PV, -PV, I, and II genes. Statistical correlations were carried out.

RESULTS

Out of 338 isolates, only 105 were MRSA and classified as 77 CA-MRSA and 28 HA-MRSA. and genes were present in all HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA isolates. was found in all HA-MRSA and 93.5% of CA-MRSA isolates. PVL genes were detected in 28.6% HA-MRSA isolates and 92.2% CA-MRSA. I gene was recovered from 60.7% HA-MRSA isolates and 37.7% CA-MRSA isolates while the II gene recovered from only 10.7% HA-MRSA isolates and 6.5% CA-MRSA.

CONCLUSION

The high prevalence of MRSA colonizing the groin, axilla, and nose may play a significant role in endogenous infection, re-infection, and also acts as a route for MRSA transmission. and genes could be used as a sole and fast step for identification of MRSA, while PVL genes cannot be used as a sole stable marker for CA-MRSA identification.