title: Whole-genome sequencing as standard practice for the analysis of clonality in outbreaks of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a paediatric setting.
abstract: Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the leading causes of hospital-associated infections. This study investigated the potential use of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for surveillance purposes by re-examining MRSA strains related to past outbreaks among hospitalized paediatric patients. WGS data ameliorated the genotypic profile previously obtained with Sanger sequencing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing, and discriminated between strains that were related and unrelated to the outbreaks. This allowed strain clonality to be defined with a higher level of resolution than achieved previously. This study demonstrates the potential of WGS to trace hospital outbreaks, which may lead to WGS becoming standard practice in outbreak investigations.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ugolotti
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larghero
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy; Lung Cancer Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino - IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vanni
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bandettini
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tripodi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Melioli
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raso
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy. Electronic address: robertobiassoni@gaslini.org.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biassoni
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods; D058889:Molecular Typing / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission
keywords: Hospital-associated infections; MRSA; Paediatric hospital outbreak; Whole-genome sequencing