title: Molecular Characterization of Community- and Healthcare-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates in Southern Taiwan.
abstract: A growing tendency for community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) to be involved in nosocomial infections was reported. The predominance of SCCmec type IV or V CA-MRSA in soft tissue infection has also been indicated in Northern Taiwan. To establish basic information about the molecular characteristics of MRSA in our region, a total of 102 MRSA isolates were collected and characterized by an array of typing methods. Healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) were found to be more resistant to levofloxacin (p=0.016) and moxifloxacin (p=0.015) than CA-MRSA. However, no difference was found in each and overall SCCmec type distribution between the two MRSA groups. Type I (8.7% vs. 2.6%) was more frequently found in CA-MRSA, whereas type V was more often observed in HA-MRSA (24.4% vs. 8.7%). No difference was found in the dichotomous group of PVL, SCCmec type IV, V, and IV/V between the two MRSA groups. Twenty-seven distinct spa types were identified; t437 and t1081 were the predominant types in our isolates. Moreover, 12 novel spa types with extremely low global frequency were detected in our isolates. SCCmec type III and IV were the major subtypes in the MRSA we collected. The t1081 clones all belonged to HA-MRSA and mostly to SCCmec type V (71.4%). CA-MRSA t437 clones were mostly SCCmec type IV strains (71.4%), but HA-MRSA t437 clones were predominantly SCCmec type IV (42.1%) and III (36.8%). Our findings support a difference in the molecular characteristics of CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA that may reflect various clonal origins in our isolates.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Tai-Min
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .|3 Laboratory of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Ming-Chang
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-sen University , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .|4 Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Tzu-Feng
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Pei-Ling
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Hsin-I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Jui-Chen
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Shiou-Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Chao-Hsun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Pathology, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .|5 Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Biotechnology, Fooyin University , Kaohsiung, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Shang-Tao
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chien
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001483:Base Sequence; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000494:pharmacology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D064704:Levofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D000077266:Moxifloxacin; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D064704:Levofloxacin; D000077266:Moxifloxacin