Controlled performance evaluation of the DiversiLab repetitive-sequence-based genotyping system for typing multidrug-resistant health care-associated bacterial pathogens.

Fast, reliable, and versatile typing tools are essential to differentiate among related bacterial strains for epidemiological investigation and surveillance of health care-associated infection with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. The DiversiLab (DL) system is a semiautomated repetitive-sequence-based PCR system designed for rapid genotyping. The DL system performance was assessed by comparing its reproducibility, typeability, discriminatory power, and concordance with those of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and by assessing its epidemiological concordance on well-characterized MDR bacterial strains (n = 165).

Epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among residents of nursing homes in Belgium.

Objectives: A national survey was conducted to determine the prevalence, risk factors and molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage among nursing home (NH) residents in Belgium.

Methods: A random stratified, cross-sectional prevalence survey was conducted in NH residents who were screened for MRSA carriage by multisite enriched culture. Characteristics of NHs and residents were collected by a questionnaire survey and analysed by two-stage logistic regression modelling.

In vitro activities of ceftobiprole, tigecycline, daptomycin, and 19 other antimicrobials against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from a national survey of Belgian hospitals.

The in vitro activities of 22 antimicrobial agents, including ceftobiprole, daptomycin, and tigecycline, against 511 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from 112 Belgian hospitals were studied by using the CLSI agar dilution method. Isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis and by PCR detection of determinants of resistance to aminoglycosides, macrolides-lincosamides-streptogramins, and tetracyclines. A representative set of isolates with different PFGE genotypes was further characterized by multilocus sequence typing, determination of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type, and multiplex PCR for toxic shock syndrome type 1 (TSST-1) and Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes.

National surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Belgian hospitals indicates rapid diversification of epidemic clones.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains (n = 455) collected in 2001 from 100 Belgian hospitals were characterized by molecular typing and by resistance gene distribution to macrolides-lincosamides-streptogramins and to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Rapid diversification of MRSA clones, compared with results of previous surveys, was evidenced by the broad geographic distribution of seven major clones belonging to the pandemic MRSA clonal complexes 5, 8, 22, 30, and 45 by multilocus sequence typing.

Emergence and spread of gentamicin-susceptible strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Belgian hospitals.

The aim of this study was to follow the evolution of the clonal distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) recovered from Belgian hospitals between 1995 and 1997-1998. MRSA strains were genotyped by inter-IS256 spacer length polymorphism PCR and SmaI macrorestriction analysis. MICs of 18 antimicrobials were determined by the agar dilution method.

Harmonization of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocols for epidemiological typing of strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a single approach developed by consensus in 10 European laboratories and its application for tracing the spread of related strains.

Pulsed-fieldgel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the most common genotypic method used in reference and clinical laboratories for typing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Many different protocols have been developed in laboratories that have extensive experience with the technique and have established national databases. However, the comparabilities of the different European PFGE protocols for MRSA and of the various national MRSA clones themselves had not been addressed until now.