PVL-positive MRSA in Austria.
The objective of this study was to present, for the first time, an overview of the existing Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in Austria and to compare the situation with that found in other countries. Between 2001 and 2006 we analysed 1150 MRSA isolates - from infections as well as from colonisation - for the presence of PVL genes. The most common multilocus sequence types of the 94 PVL-positive MRSA strains were ST8, ST152, ST30, ST80, and ST5; the ST22, and ST777 sequences were also detected. During 2005 and 2006, 3.7-7.7% of the isolates were PVL-positive. The age distribution of the patients revealed that nosocomial MRSA mainly occurs in elderly people, whereas PVL-positive MRSA mainly appears in younger people. We observed a relatively high prevalence of PVL-positive isolates. Several MRSA clones containing the PVL genes are spreading throughout Austria, including two strains not yet widespread in Western Europe.
Krziwanek
K
K
National Reference Centre for Nosocomial Infections and Antibiotic Resistance, Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Tropical Medicine, Elisabethinen Hospital, Fadingerstrasse 1, Linz, Austria. karina.krziwanek@elisabethinen.or.at
Luger
C
C
Sammer
B
B
Stumvoll
S
S
Stammler
M
M
Metz-Gercek
S
S
Mittermayer
H
H
D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics*; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007956:Leukocidins / Q000235:genetics*; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D010802:Phylogeny; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D005098:Exotoxins; D007956:Leukocidins; C078284:Panton-Valentine leukocidin