Molecular characterization of MRSA collected during national surveillance between 2008 and 2019 in the Netherlands.

Background: Although the Netherlands is a country with a low endemic level, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses a significant health care problem. Therefore, high coverage national MRSA surveillance has been in place since 1989. To monitor possible changes in the type-distribution and emergence of resistance and virulence, MRSA isolates are molecularly characterized.

Genomic comparison of mecC-carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from hedgehogs and humans in the Netherlands.

Objectives: MRSA carrying the mecC gene (mecC-MRSA) have been found in humans and animals worldwide. A high carriage rate of mecC-MRSA has been described among hedgehogs in different countries. We performed genomic comparison of mecC-MRSA from hedgehogs and humans using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to investigate possible zoonotic transmission in the Netherlands.

and genes in methicillin-resistant from humans and livestock in the Netherlands.

Background: Although the Netherlands is a country with a low endemic level of methicillin-resistant (MRSA), a national MRSA surveillance has been in place since 1989. In 2003 livestock emerged as a major reservoir of MRSA and currently livestock-associated MRSA (clonal complex CC398) make up 25% of all surveillance isolates. To assess possible transfer of resistant strains or resistance genes, MRSA obtained from humans and animals were characterized in detail.

Genetic Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus argenteus Isolates Collected in the Dutch National MRSA Surveillance from 2008 to 2021.

Staphylococcus argenteus is a recently described member of the Staphylococcus aureus complex (SAC) and is associated with human disease. The frequency and intensity of infections caused by are similar to those of Staphylococcus aureus. can harbor antibiotic resistance genes and a variety of virulence factors analogous to methicillin-resistant S.

National surveillance pilot study unveils a multicenter, clonal outbreak of VIM-2-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST111 in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2017.

Verona Integron-encoded Metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM) is the most frequently-encountered carbapenemase in the healthcare-related pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In the Netherlands, a low-endemic country for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, no national surveillance data on the prevalence of carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa (CPPA) was available.

A genetic cluster of MDR complex ST78 harbouring a plasmid containing and in the Netherlands.

Background: Carbapenemases produced by Enterobacterales are often encoded by genes on transferable plasmids and represent a major healthcare problem, especially if the plasmids contain additional antibiotic resistance genes. As part of Dutch national surveillance, 50 medical microbiological laboratories submit their Enterobacterales isolates suspected of carbapenemase production to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment for characterization. All isolates for which carbapenemase production is confirmed are subjected to next-generation sequencing.

-like genome architecture among carbapenemase-producing and in the Netherlands.

Carbapenem-hydrolysing enzymes belonging to the OXA-48-like group are encoded by -like alleles and are abundant among in the Netherlands. Therefore, the objective here was to investigate the characteristics, gene content and diversity of the -like carrying plasmids and chromosomes of and collected in the Dutch national surveillance from 2014 to 2019 in comparison with genome sequences from 29 countries. A combination of short-read genome sequencing with long-read sequencing enabled the reconstruction of 47 and 132 complete -like plasmids for and , respectively.

Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis is superior to spa typing and sufficient to characterize MRSA for surveillance purposes.

Aim: Assess the best approach to type methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing, multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) or both.

Materials & Methods: Discriminatory power of spa typing and MLVA was determined using 20,771 MRSA isolates.

Results: There were twice as many MLVA types (MTs) as spa types present in the collection.

New statistical technique for analyzing MIC-based susceptibility data.

Seventeen laboratories participated in a cooperative study to validate the regional susceptibility testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in The Netherlands. International reference strains were distributed. Each laboratory determined the MICs of ciprofloxacin, penicillin, and tetracycline, for each strain by Etest.

Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis of Staphylococcus aureus: comparison with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and spa-typing.

Background: Molecular typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is required to study the routes and rates of transmission of this pathogen. Currently available typing techniques are either resource-intensive or have limited discriminatory ability. Multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) may provide an alternative high throughput molecular typing tool with high epidemiological resolution.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a beauty salon, the Netherlands.

An outbreak of community-associated USA300 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occurred in a beautician and 2 of her customers. Eight other persons, who were either infected (n = 5) or colonized (n = 3), were linked to this outbreak, including a family member, a household contact, and partners of customers.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Dutch soccer team.

An outbreak of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occurred among members and close contacts of a soccer team. Typing of the isolates showed the outbreak was caused by the well-known European ST80-IV strain. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an outbreak of this strain among members of a sports team.

Community-acquired MRSA and pig-farming.

Background: Sporadic cases of CA-MRSA in persons without risk-factors for MRSA carriage are increasing.

Case Presentation: We report a MRSA cluster among family members of a pig-farmer, his co-workers and his pigs. Initially a young mother was seen with mastitis due to MRSA.

Different levels of genetic homogeneity in vancomycin-resistant and -susceptible Enterococcus faecium isolates from different human and animal sources analyzed by amplified-fragment length polymorphism.

The genetic relationship among fecal vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) and vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEF) isolates (n = 178) from the same populations of pigs, human healthy volunteers, and hospitalized patients (from The Netherlands) and chickens (from The Netherlands and Greece) was studied by amplified-fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). The majority of VREF isolates from pigs, healthy volunteers, and hospitalized patients grouped together (genetic similarity, >or=65%).