A Study of Community-Acquired Pyodermas with Special Reference to Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL)-Positive Methicillin-Resistant .

BACKGROUND

Community-acquired (CA) pyodermas are one of the most common infections encountered in the dermatology outpatient clinics. A significant number of these conditions are caused by . CA-methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) and CA-methicillin-resistant (MRSA) have specific virulence genes which are associated with these diseases, particularly the Panton-Valentine leukocidin () genes. The presence of the gene as a virulence factor may be associated with recurrent and severe skin infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective study was conducted with 205 cases of CA pyodermas, of which five were discarded due to mixed isolates. Clinical details were taken and wound exudate was sent for bacteriological examination. Further, the molecular study was performed on all MRSA (7) isolates and 13 randomly selected MSSA isolates using polymerase chain reaction for and genes.

RESULTS

was the most common organism (90%) isolated from primary or secondary CA pyodermas. The prevalence of CA-MRSA among all pyodermas was 3.5% in our community. The gene was not detected in all tested CA-MRSA and CA-MSSA isolates.

CONCLUSION

While pyodermas are common, the prevalence of MRSA is low in the CA pyodermas in our region. PVL does not appear to be a virulence factor among the isolated MRSA. Larger, multicentric, and periodic studies are, however, required to further justify these claims.