title: Distribution of macrolide-resistance genes in Staphylococcus aureus blood-culture isolates from fifteen German university hospitals. M.A.R.S. Study Group. Multicentre Study on Antibiotic Resistance in Staphylococci.
abstract: The purpose of the study was to analyze the distribution of the macrolide-resistance genes in 134 erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus blood-culture isolates collected at 15 German university hospitals. The most prevalent resistance gene was ermC (68/134; 50.7%), followed by ermA (52/134; 38.8%), ereB (10/134; 7.5%), and mrsA/msrB (4/134; 6%). The least common genes were ermB (3/134; 2.2%) and ereA (1/134; 0.7%). Overall, resistance to erythromycin was predominantly due to the presence of two erm genes, although with different distributions, depending on the methicillin-resistance pattern.
authors.affiliation: Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Clinical Microbiology, Utrecht Medical Center, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. schmitfj@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petridou
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Fluit
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hadding
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: von Eiff
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D003470:Culture Media; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005858:Germany; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D004917:Erythromycin; D008712:Methicillin