Molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant Panton-valentine leukocidin positive staphylococcus aureus clones disseminating in Tunisian hospitals and in the community.

Background: The spread of MRSA strains at hospitals as well as in the community are of great concern worldwide. We characterized the MRSA clones isolated at Tunisian hospitals and in the community by comparing them to those isolated in other countries.

Results: We characterized 69 MRSA strains isolated from two Tunisian university hospitals between the years 2004-2008.