title: Diversity of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from two European regions with different prevalences of methicillin resistance.
abstract: The genodiversity of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the Nottingham region of the United Kingdom was compared with isolates from the Freiburg region of Germany. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates was higher in Nottingham than in Freiburg. In patients from Nottingham hospitals, 80% of MRSA isolates were classical epidemic MRSA-15, but genotypic variants of epidemic MRSA-15 comprised 72% of isolates from Nottingham community-based patients. In contrast, MRSA isolates from Freiburg showed greater diversity, but 47% and 23% of isolates, respectively, belonged to two predominant MRSA genotypes found in isolates from both hospitalised and community-based patients. The results suggest that genodiversity becomes increasingly more confined in settings with a higher frequency and longer duration of MRSA prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Hugstetter Strasse 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. djonas@IUK3.UKL.uni-Freiburg.de
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jonas
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Towner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loerwald
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shunburne
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Wieland
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Daschner
mesh_terms: D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008712:Methicillin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D010406:Penicillins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015995:Prevalence; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D010406:Penicillins; D008712:Methicillin