title: Multidrug-resistant Iberian epidemic clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endemic in a hospital in northern Portugal.
abstract: Forty-two methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates collected during 1992-1995 at a hospital in the north of Portugal were characterized by a variety of genomic fingerprints. Hybridization of ClaI and SmaI restriction digests with the mecA- and Tn554-specific DNA probes was used to identify polymorphs and determine their localization in chromosomal DNA preparations, and pulsed-field gel electrophoretic analysis of SmaI digests was used to determine chromosomal backgrounds. A major clone (and its variants) carrying the mecA polymorph I, Tn554 type E in the PFGE background of pattern A, accounted for 85% of all MRSA tested in 1992-1993 and 66% in 1994-1995. This clone is closely related to the epidemic Iberian clone that was associated with outbreaks in Spain during 1989-1993 and was endemic in 1992-1993 in two hospitals in Lisbon (Portugal).
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Genética Molecular, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB/UNL), Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Sanches
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aires de Sousa
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sobral
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Calheiros
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Felicio
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pedra
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Lencastre
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial