OBJECTIVES Methicillin resistance in staphylococci is mediated by the mecA gene, which is carried on the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec). SCCmec is responsible for vertical and horizontal transfer of methicillin resistance. Horizontal transfer implies first SCCmec excision from the chromosome. Site-specific excision is catalysed by the Ccr recombinases, which are encoded by ccrA...

Methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as an important cause of community-acquired infections, which has been recently designated as community-associated (CA) MRSA. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-negative multilocus sequence type 72 (ST72)-staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IV has been reported as the predominat CA-MRSA strain in Korea and is commonly...

This study reports the isolation of CA-MRSA strain which was found to colonize the nasal mucosa of a patient undergoing haemodialysis treatment. The MRSA was subjected to molecular analysis by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), multiplex PCR assay for staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, and PCR detection of the pvl gene encoding for Panton-Valentine leukocidin. The ana...

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 SCCm...

Community-type Staphylococcus aureus strains that are positive for mecA and PBP2a but appear phenotypically susceptible to oxacillin are increasingly reported worldwide. Four S. aureus clinical isolates carrying the mecA gene with oxacillin MICs of <2 microg/ml were tested for oxacillin efficiency by population analyses and experimental thigh infections. These isolates harbored staphylococcal c...

We report here the first case of endocarditis due to CA-MRSA not associated with healthcare contact in Brazil in Brazil. A previously healthy patient presented with history of endocarditis following a traumatic wound infection. Patient had multiple positive blood cultures within 72 h of admission and met modified Duke's criterion for infective endocarditis. The isolate was typed as Staphylococc...

Typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is important in infection control and surveillance. The current nomenclature of MRSA includes the genetic background of the S. aureus strain determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) or equivalent methods like spa typing and typing of the mobile genetic element staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), which carries the m...