This study investigated the in vitro susceptibilities of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to nine antimicrobial agents in Taiwan. A total of 1,725 isolates were obtained from 20 hospitals throughout Taiwan from 2006 to 2010. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the nine agents were determined by the agar dilution method. The MICs of mupirocin and tyrothricin were determined for 223 MRSA isolates collected from 2009 to 2010. For vancomycin, 99.7 % were susceptible; however, 30.0 % (n = 517) exhibited MICs of 2 μg/ml and 0.3 % (n = 6) demonstrated intermediate susceptibility (MICs of 4 μg/ml). Nearly all isolates (≥ 99.9 %) were susceptible to teicoplanin, linezolid, and daptomycin. The MIC90 values were 2 μg/ml for ceftobiprole and 1 μg/ml for nemonoxacin. The MIC90 values of mupirocin and tyrothricin were 0.12 and 4 μg/ml, respectively. MIC creep was noted for daptomycin during this period, but not for vancomycin, teicoplanin, linezolid, or tigecycline. For isolates with vancomycin MICs of 2 μg/ml, the MIC90 values were 2 μg/ml for teicoplanin, 0.5 μg/ml for daptomycin, and 0.5 μg/ml for tigecycline. Those values were four- to eight-fold higher than those among isolates with vancomycin MICs of 0.5 μg/ml (2, 0.06, and 0.12 μg/ml, respectively). Of the nine MRSA isolates exhibiting non-susceptibility to vancomycin (n = 6), teicoplanin (n = 1), daptomycin (n = 2), or tigecycline (n = 1), all had different pulsotypes, indicating the absence of intra-hospital or inter-hospital spread. The presence of a high proportion of MRSA isolates with elevated MICs (2 μg/ml) and MIC creep of daptomycin might alert clinicians on the therapy for serious MRSA infections in Taiwan.

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