title: Antimicrobial resistance and molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
abstract: This study aimed to characterize Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains isolated from human infections in Mongolia. Infection samples were collected at two time periods (2007-08 and 2011) by the National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. S. aureus isolates were characterized using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mecA, PVL, and sasX genes and tested for agr functionality. All isolates were also spa typed. A subset of isolates selected by frequency of spa types was subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and multilocus sequence typing. Among 251 S. aureus isolates, genotyping demonstrated methicillin resistance in 8.8% of isolates (22/251). Approximately 28% of the tested S. aureus isolates were observed to be multidrug resistant (MDR). Sequence type (ST) 154 (spa t667) was observed to be a strain with high virulence potential, as all isolates for this spa type were positive for PVL, had a functional agr system and 78% were MDR. S. aureus isolates of ST239 (spa t037) were observed to cause infections and roughly 60% had functional agr system with a greater proportion being MDR. Additionally, new multilocus sequence types and new spa types were identified, warranting continued surveillance for S. aureus in this region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa , Iowa City, IA , United States.
authors.forename: Rajeshwari
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Blake M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: Karly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondratowicz
authors.forename: Altantsetseg
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dorjpurev
authors.forename: Bulgan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davaadash
authors.forename: Battumur
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Enkhtuya
authors.forename: Odgerel
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tundev
authors.forename: Tara C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Smith
keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Hospital infections; MRSA infections; Molecular epidemiology; Mongolia; Staphylococcus aureus