title: International spread of major clones of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus: nosocomial endemicity of multi locus sequence type 239 in Saudi Arabia and Romania.
abstract: Phenotypically identified methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains from several hospitals in Romania and Saudi Arabia (n = 103 and 68, respectively) were confirmed to be MRSA by mecA PCR and PBP-2' based latex agglutination. Subsequently, strains were differentiated at the sub-species level using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of SmaI DNA macro-restriction fragments. Comparison of the PFGE fingerprints identified major clusters of strains, persistently present in the various hospitals. Endemicity of certain strains was identified, amongst others one due to a particularly methicillin resistant type in the burn wound sector of the Romanian hospital. No PFGE-based overlap was found between the Saudi and Romanian strains. However, multi locus sequence typing (MLST), performed for 20% of all strains, revealed that genuine genetic similarity was obscured by the PFGE analysis. In both the Romanian and Saudi hospitals the renowned sequence type (ST) 239 was very over-represented. This was especially apparent in Saudi Arabia, where all strains except two shared the ST 239 genotype. This clonal type has previously been identified in a variety of other countries. Despite the MLST concordance, PFGE data indicate that ST 239 diversifies while maintaining its core genome intact. ST 80, another previously but less frequently identified clone, was introduced in 2000 in the Romanian institutes and persisted over the past 3 years as a frequent cause of infections in a surgical department. The successful MRSA types can acquire prominent positions in hospitals of previously low-endemicity MRSA status.
authors.affiliation: The Clinic Hospital for Emergencies for Children Sf. Maria Str. V. Lupu Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cîrlan
authors.forename: Magida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saad
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coman
authors.forename: Naser Eldin
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Bilal
authors.forename: Ali Magzoub
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Elbashier
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kreft
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Snijders
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D012383:Romania; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics