Evolution and Molecular Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus

SOLA CLAUDIA; CORTES PAULO; SAKA HECTOR ALEX; VINDEL ANA; MRSA CORDOBA STUDY GROUP; BOCCO JOSE LUIS

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY

American Society for Microbiology

Lugar: Washington DC; Año: 2006 vol. 44 p. 192 - 192

0095-1137

ince 1999, a new, epidemic, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain, named the "Cordobes clone," has emerged in Argentina and coexists with the pandemic Brazilian clone. The purpose of this study was to determine the stability over time of the new clone and to investigate its evolutionary relationship with epidemic international MRSA lineages and with other MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) major clones distributed in this region. One hundred three MRSA isolates recovered in 2001 from Cordoba, Argentina, hospitals and 31 MSSA strains collected from 1999 to 2002 were analyzed by their antibiotic resistance patterns, phage typing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Additionally, representative members of most MRSA defined genotypes (A, B, C, E, K, and I) were characterized by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and spaA and SCCmec typing. The most prevalent MSSA pulsotypes were also analyzed by MLST. Our results support the displacement of the Brazilia