Characteristics of community- and hospital-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying SCCmec type IV isolated in Malaysia

Abstract

Community-acquired meticillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(CA-MRSA) occurring among hospital isolates in Malaysia has not been reported previously. As CA-MRSA reported worldwide has been shown to carry SCCmectypes IV and V, the aim of this study was to determine the SCCmectypes of MRSA strains collected in Malaysia from November 2006 to June 2008. From a total of 628 MRSA isolates, 20 were SCCmectype IV, whilst the rest were type III. Further characterization of SCCmectype IV strains revealed 11 sequence types (STs), including ST22, with the majority being ST30/Panton–Valentine leukocidin positive. Eight out of nine CA-MRSA were ST30, one was ST80, and all were sensitive to co-trimoxazole and gentamicin. Five new STs designated ST1284, ST1285, ST1286, ST1287 and ST1288 were discovered, suggesting the emergence of novel clones of MRSA circulating in Malaysian hospitals. The discovery of the ST22 strain is a cause for concern because of its ability to replace existing predominant clones in certain geographical regions.