Epidemic meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (EMRSA-15) variants detected in healthy and diseased individuals in India

Abstract

This study provides what we believe to be the first report of the presence of EMRSA-15 and its variants isolated from nasal swabs from 13 healthy and diseased individuals in India. The majority of the isolates belonged to staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IV and spa type t852, whilst four isolates were non-typable and heterotypic for the presence of the mecA gene. All non-typable isolates were positive for the orfX gene by PCR and belonged to spa types t005 and t2986. They may have variant SCCmec cassettes indicating genetic changes occurring in the Indian EMRSA-15. All isolates were positive for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and toxic shock syndrome toxin, which is a cause for concern. In addition to soft-tissue infections, the EMRSA-15 isolates from patients were also responsible for meningitis and brain abscesses, which is quite rare.

Molecular epidemiology of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus colonizing the anterior Nares of school children of Udupi Taluk

“…Details of all the primers used in SCC mec typing are shown in Table 1. Selected strains were subjected to PFGE after Sma I restriction digestion according to the protocol developed and reported by Nadig et al [9] The reference strains such as ATCC 43300 (PVL negative MRSA), WCH 1000 (SCC mec type V strain), USA 300 (SCC mec type IV (PVL positive)), NCTC 8325 (HA-MRSA) and NCTC 13142 (Classical EMRSA-15) were included in the study. Frequency distribution of different types of MRSA like; PVL positive, SCC mec IV and V were analyzed using SPSS 16.0.…”

“…[7] Majority of the CA-MRSA causing infections in Indian subcontinent have been identifi ed as SCC mec IV. [8][9][10] A variant of EMRSA-15 which produces PVL toxin has been isolated and characterized by PFGE method from the Indian population both in hospital and community settings. [9,11] In addition to the methods such as SCC mec typing and PVL assay, the highly discriminating PFGE technique was also employed to ascertain the chances of the Indian variant strain of EMRSA-15 making its presence in the region under study.…”

“…[8][9][10] A variant of EMRSA-15 which produces PVL toxin has been isolated and characterized by PFGE method from the Indian population both in hospital and community settings. [9,11] In addition to the methods such as SCC mec typing and PVL assay, the highly discriminating PFGE technique was also employed to ascertain the chances of the Indian variant strain of EMRSA-15 making its presence in the region under study. [9,11] Epidemiological typing of the infectious agent can be considered as one of the important weapons in the armamentarium of the infection control specialists as this pin points the epidemiological clone of MRSA prevalent in the community.…”

“…[9,11] In addition to the methods such as SCC mec typing and PVL assay, the highly discriminating PFGE technique was also employed to ascertain the chances of the Indian variant strain of EMRSA-15 making its presence in the region under study. [9,11] Epidemiological typing of the infectious agent can be considered as one of the important weapons in the armamentarium of the infection control specialists as this pin points the epidemiological clone of MRSA prevalent in the community. Unfortunately there is not much published data available about the epidemiological type of MRSA colonizing the children from this part of the country.…”

Detection and antibiotic resistance pattern of Staphylococcus aureusand (MRSA) isolated from healthcare workers Nares at three Gaza hospitals, Palestine

“…It causes a wide range of localized and systemic diseases ranging from skin and soft-tissue infections to infective endocarditis, osteomyelitis, bacteremia and necrotizing pneumonia, as well as various toxin and superantigen-mediated diseases [1][2][3][4]. Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most significant health care associated (HA) and community-associated (CA) pathogen, causing a wide range of infections and are associated with higher morbidity, mortality, prolonged length of hospital stay and higher healthcare costs as compared to methicillin-susceptible staphylococci [1,5].…”