Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones, Western Australia

Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Feb;12(2):241-7. doi: 10.3201/eid1202.050454.

Abstract

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was first reported in Western Australia in the early 1990s from indigenous peoples living in remote areas. Although a statewide policy of screening all hospital patients and staff who have lived outside the state for MRSA has prevented the establishment of multidrug-resistant epidemic MRSA, the policy has not prevented SCCmec type IV and type V MRSA clones from becoming established. Of the 4,099 MRSA isolates analyzed (referred to the Gram-positive Bacteria Typing and Research Unit) from July 2003 to December 2004, 77.5% were community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). Using multilocus sequence/staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec typing, 22 CA-MRSA clones were characterized. Of these isolates, 55.5% were resistant to >1 non-beta-lactam antimicrobial drug. Five Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive CA-MRSA clones were identified. The emergence of multidrug-resistant CA-MRSA clones and the detection of PVL toxin genes in clones previously reported as PVL negative is a major public health concern.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacterial Toxins / genetics
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / epidemiology*
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / microbiology
  • Community-Acquired Infections / epidemiology*
  • Community-Acquired Infections / microbiology
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
  • Exotoxins / genetics
  • Humans
  • Leukocidins
  • Methicillin Resistance*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Staphylococcal Infections / epidemiology*
  • Staphylococcal Infections / microbiology
  • Staphylococcus aureus / classification
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects*
  • Staphylococcus aureus / genetics*
  • Western Australia / epidemiology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Exotoxins
  • Leukocidins
  • Panton-Valentine leukocidin