title: Different clonal complexes of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are disseminated in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine region.
abstract: The Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) is formed by the border regions of Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands. Cross-border health care requires infection control measures, in particular since the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) differs among the three countries. To investigate the dissemination of MRSA in the EMR, 152 MRSA isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), SCCmec typing, and multilocus sequence typing. PFGE revealed major clonal groups A, G, L, and Q, suggesting dissemination of MRSA in the EMR. Group A harbored mainly SCCmec type III and sequence types (STs) 239 and 241. The majority of the strains from group G harbored SCCmec type I and ST8 and ST247, whereas most strains from group L carried either SCCmec type IV or type I. Within group L, ST8 and ST228 were found, belonging to clonal complexes 8 and 5, respectively. Most strains from group Q included SCCmec type II and were sequence typed as ST225. Both ST225-MRSA-II and ST241-MRSA-III were novel findings in Germany. In addition, the SCCmec type of two isolates has not been described previously. One strain was classified as SCCmec type III but harbored the pls gene and the dcs region. Another strain was characterized as SCCmec type IV but lacked the dcs region. In addition, one isolate harbored both SCCmec type V and Panton-Valentine leukocidin. Finally, the SCCmec type of the strains was found to be correlated with the antibiotic susceptibility pattern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht Infection, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ruud H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Deurenberg
authors.forename: Cornelis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vink
authors.forename: Guy J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Oudhuis
authors.forename: Jascha E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mooij
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Driessen
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppens
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Craeghs
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Brauwer
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemmen
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wagenvoort
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scheres
authors.forename: Ellen E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Stobberingh
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D003428:Cross Infection; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*