Emergence of virulent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes in The Netherlands.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains carrying the Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) genes have been reported worldwide and are a serious threat to public health. The PVL genes encode a highly potent toxin which is involved in severe skin infections and necrotizing pneumonia, even in previously healthy individuals. We assessed the prevalence of PVL-positive MRSA in The Netherlands for two periods of time: (i) 1987 through 1995 and (ii) 2000 and 2002, and determined their characteristics by using multilocus sequence typing and staphylococcal chromosome cassette (SCCmec) typing. It was found that up to 15% of all MRSA isolates detected in The Netherlands harbored the PVL genes. Most PVL-positive MRSA isolates were obtained from severe soft tissue infections in relatively young individuals. The first PVL-positive MRSA described in The Netherlands, isolated in 1988, was a single-locus variant of the "Berlin" epidemic MRSA clone. The 20 PVL-positive MRSA isolates studied in 2000 and 2002 consisted of five different sequence types (STs) that belonged to four clonal complexes. One of the STs, ST80, is considered to be a widespread European clone and was the most predominant ST (60%) in this study, while ST37 had never been found to be associated with PVL-positive MRSA. Most isolates harbored SCCmec type IV, a supposed marker for community-acquired MRSA. The number and type of virulence-associated genes varied among the different STs.
Wannet
W J B
WJ
National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Diagnostic Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and Perinatal Screening, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. wim.wannet@rivm.nl
Spalburg
E
E
Heck
M E O C
ME
Pluister
G N
GN
Tiemersma
E
E
Willems
R J L
RJ
Huijsdens
X W
XW
de Neeling
A J
AJ
Etienne
J
J
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018461:Soft Tissue Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013207:Staphylococcal Skin Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin