Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important pathogen in both community and healthcare-related settings worldwide. Current knowledge regarding the epidemiology of S. aureus and MRSA in Gaza is based on a single community-based carriage study. Here we describe a cross-sectional analysis of 215 clinical isolates collected from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza during 2008 and 2012.

Methods: All isolates were characterized by spa typing, SCCmec typing, and detection of genes encoding Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1). Representative genotypes were also subjected to multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using VITEK2 and MicroScan.

Results: MRSA represented 56.3% of all S. aureus strains, and increased in frequency from 2008 (54.8%) to 2012 (58.4%). Aside from beta-lactams, resistance was observed to tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, and fluoroquinolones. Molecular typing identified 35 spa types representing 17 MLST clonal complexes (CC), with spa 998 (Ridom t223, CC22) and spa 70 (Ridom t044, CC80) being the most prevalent. SCCmec types I, III, IV, V and VI were identified among MRSA isolates, while type II was not detected. PVL genes (lukF/S-PV) were detected in 40.0% of all isolates, while the TSST-1 gene (tst) was detected in 27.4% of all isolates, with surprisingly high frequency within CC22 (70.4%). Both PVL and TSST-1 genes were found in several isolates from 2012.

Conclusions: Molecular typing of clinical isolates from Gaza hospitals revealed unusually high prevalence of TSST-1 genes among CC22 MRSA, which is noteworthy given a recent community study describing widespread carriage of a CC22 MRSA clone known as the 'Gaza strain'. While the latter did not address TSST-1, tst-positive spa 998 (Ridom t223) has been detected in several neighboring countries, and described as endemic in an Italian NICU, suggesting international spread of a 'Middle Eastern variant' of pandemic CC22 strain EMRSA-15.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4364023PMC
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120008PLOS

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

toxic shock
8
shock syndrome
8
syndrome toxin
8
toxin tsst-1
8
hospital gaza
8
aureus mrsa
8
clinical isolates
8
molecular typing
8
spa 998
8
998 ridom
8

Similar Publications

Background: ANDROMEDA-SHOCK 2 is an international, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing hemodynamic phenotype-based, capillary refill time-targeted resuscitation in early septic shock to standard care resuscitation to test the hypothesis that the former is associated with lower morbidity and mortality in terms of hierarchal analysis of outcomes.

Objective: To report the statistical plan for the ANDROMEDA--SHOCK 2 randomized clinical trial.

Methods: We briefly describe the trial design, patients, methods of randomization, interventions, outcomes, and sample size.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins (Spe proteins) secreted by (group A , GAS) are responsible for scarlet fever and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Most Spes are superantigens that cause excessive inflammation by activating large numbers of T cells. However, Streptococcal pyogenic exotoxin B (SpeB) is an exception, which is pro-inflammatory through its protease activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The emergence and global spread of carbapenem-resistant complex species present a pressing public health challenge. Carbapenem-resistant spp. cause a wide variety of infections, including septic shock fatalities in newborns and immunocompromised adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report a first case of ceftazidime-resistant pediatric melioidosis involving a previously healthy seven-year-old boy who presented with right lobar pneumonia complicated with a 5-cm lung abscess. Ceftazidime was initiated on Day-6 of admission when (ceftazidime-susceptible, minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] 1.0 mcg/mL) was isolated from blood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The morbidity and mortality of sepsis remain high. Clinicians lack effective markers to rapidly diagnose sepsis and identify the underlying pathogen infection particularly for patients with candidaemia or cases of culture-negative sepsis where culture-based diagnostics are inadequate. In our search for new lines of potential sepsis biomarkers, we here explore the impact of various classes of infectious agents on the serum -glycome in a septic shock cohort.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!