Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,Finland

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is no longer only hospital acquired. MRSA is defined as community acquired if the MRSA-positive specimen was obtained outside hospital settings or within 2 days of hospital admission, and if it was from a person who had not been hospitalized within 2 years before the date of MRSA isolation. To estimate the proportion of community-acquired MRSA, we analyzed previous hospitalizations for all MRSA-positive persons in Finland from 1997 to 1999 by using data from the National Hospital Discharge Register. Of 526 MRSA-positive persons, 21% had community-acquired MRSA. Three MRSA strains identified by phage typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and ribotyping were associated with community acquisition. None of the strains were multiresistant, and all showed an mec hypervariable region hybridization pattern A (HVR type A). None of the epidemic multiresistant hospital strains were prevalent in nonhospitalized persons. Our population-based data suggest that community-acquired MRSA may also arise de novo, through horizontal acquisition of the mecA gene.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Uruguay

A novel, methicillin-resistant [corrected] Staphylococcus aureus clone (Uruguay clone) with a non-multidrug-resistant phenotype caused a large outbreak, including 7 deaths, in Montevideo, Uruguay. The clone was distinct from the highly virulent community clone represented by strain MW2, although both clones carried Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene and cna gene.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Central Australia

To date, there has been scant information about the burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in Central Australia. Our aims were to determine the proportion of Staphylococcus aureus infections due to methicillin-resistant strains in Central Australia, to characterise resistance to non-beta lactam antibiotics and to correlate findings with available demographic information. We retrospectively reviewed S. aureus isolates identified by the Microbiology Laboratory of the Pathology Department, Alice Springs Hospital between September 2005 and February 2006. Multi-resistance was defined as resistance to three or more non-beta lactam antibiotics. We identified the recovery site and extended antibiotic resistance profile of each isolate. Demographic data included place of residence, discharge diagnosis and ethnicity. There were 524 S. aureus isolates: 417 (79.6%) methicillin-sensitive S. aureus, 104 (19.7%) non-multi-resistant MRSA (nmrMRSA) and 3 (0.7%) multi-resistant MRSA (mrMRSA). MRSA accounted for 7/22 (32%) invasive infections and 91/474 (19.2%) cases of staphylococcal skin infections. Aboriginal people comprised 89 per cent (93/104) of patients with nmrMRSA; 57 per cent lived in remote communities, 21 per cent in suburban Alice Springs, and 18 per cent in Alice Springs Town Camps. Six per cent (6/104) of nmrMRSA were hospital-acquired. Of the nmrMRSA isolates, 57 per cent (59/104) were resistant to erythromycin and 7 per cent (7/104) to fusidic acid. All MRSA isolates were susceptible to co-trimoxazole. In conclusion, Central Australia has high rates of community-acquired nmrMRSA and low rates of multi-resistant MRSA. Erythromycin resistance in S. aureus is also common. These findings should prompt the review of antimicrobial prescribing guidelines for the region, especially for treatment of skin and soft tissue infections.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among military recruits

We report an outbreak of 235 community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections among military recruits. In this unique environment, the close contact between recruits and the physical demands of training may have contributed to the spread of MRSA. Control measures included improved hygiene and aggressive clinical treatment.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: an emerging pathogen.

The prevalence of MRSA in the nosocomial setting has been well studied, and its control remains a challenge for infection control professionals. Complicating this problem is the increasing number of reports on the spread of community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA). CA-MRSA strains differ from hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) strains in that they are generally susceptible to most antibiotics. These strains share the presence of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IV in their genomes, are frequently virulent, and predominantly cause skin and soft tissue infections. The genome sequence of the prototypic CA-MRSA strain, MW2, revealed the presence of additional virulence factors not commonly present in other S. aureus strains. We determined the genetic relatedness of 30 geographically diverse CA-MRSA isolates clustered based on SCCmec type IV by sequence analysis of the polymorphic repeat region of the protein A gene (spa typing). These results indicated that most strains shared a common spa type (131), identical to MW2. Because this group tends to infect healthy individuals with no known risk factors for nosocomial acquisition of MRSA, we refer to it as CA-MRSA without risk factors. A second group, CA-MRSA with risk factors, consists of two related genotypes, spa types 1 and 7, which differ by one nucleotide change. These strains have caused severe infections in HIV-positive patients in Los Angeles and New York. Although CA-MRSA strains share genetic determinants, they are not clonal but rather are derived from different genetic backgrounds. The genetic characteristics and the epidemiology of CA-MRSA with and without risk factors are discussed.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus necrotizing fasciitis in a healthy adolescent male

Recently, the rate of severe, invasive community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infection has been increasing in healthy children. The single most common cause of necrotizing fasciitis in children is group A Streptococcus. Empiric therapy is usually targeted at this organism, which is uniformly sensitive to penicillin. Necrotizing fasciitis caused by CA-MRSA is a potentially life-threatening infection that has not been extensively reported in the U.S. pediatric population. The limited literature includes reports of neonatal cases and reports of pediatric cases embedded in articles about adults with underlying risk factors. We present a case of CA-MRSA necrotizing fasciitis in a previously healthy 11-year-old male with no risk factors.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carrying Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes: worldwide emergence

Infections caused by community-acquired (CA)-methicillin--resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been reported worldwide. We assessed whether any common genetic markers existed among 117 CA-MRSA isolates from the United States, France, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Samoa by performing polymerase chain reaction for 24 virulence factors and the methicillin-resistance determinant. The genetic background of the strain was analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The CA-MRSA strains shared a type IV SCCmec cassette and the Panton-Valentine leukocidin locus, whereas the distribution of the other toxin genes was quite specific to the strains from each continent. PFGE and MLST analysis indicated distinct genetic backgrounds associated with each geographic origin, although predominantly restricted to the agr3 background. Within each continent, the genetic background of CA-MRSA strains did not correspond to that of the hospital-acquired MRSA.     

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in Singapore is usually "healthcare associated".

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. SETTING: A teaching hospital in Singapore. METHODS: Prospectively collected surveillance data were reviewed during a 1-year period to determine the extent and origin of community-acquired MRSA infections. RESULTS: Whereas 32% of 383 MRSA infections were detected less than 48 hours after hospital admission and would, by convention, be classified as "community acquired," all but one of these were among patients who had been exposed to outpatient centers including dialysis or chemotherapy clinics, visiting nurses, community hospitals, or all three. CONCLUSIONS: With health care increasingly being delivered in an outpatient setting, community-acquired MRSA infections are often acquired in hospital-related sites and most may be more accurately described as "healthcare acquired." Infection control measures need to move beyond the traditional paradigm of acute care hospitals to effectively control the spread of resistant pathogens.     

Osteomyelitis with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

We describe 10 patients with hospital-acquired osteomyelitis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The patients were posttraumatic and eight had a foreign body in situ at the site of infection. Vancomycin therapy in association with radical debridement was followed by clinical and radiological cure in eight patients at 2-3.5 years follow-up, in two of whom a foreign body was left in situ. Only minor adverse effects of vancomycin therapy (one rash, two thrombophlebitis) were seen.     

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pediatric patients

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections increased from 2000 to 2003 in hospitalized pediatric patients in Houston. CA-MRSA was associated with greater illness than was infection with methicillin-susceptible strains. Children with CA-MRSA were younger and mostly African American. Of MRSA isolates, 4.5% had the inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B phenotype.     

Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Subtyping methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates and tracking nosocomial infections have evolved from phenotypic to genotypic approaches; most laboratories now depend on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). We discuss the limitations of current image-based genotyping methods, including PFGE, and the advantages (including ease of entering data into a database) of using DNA sequence analysis to control MRSA infections in health-care facilities.     

Human-to-dog transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was cultured from the nose of a healthy dog whose owner was colonized with MRSA while she worked in a Dutch nursing home. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and typing of the staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec) region showed that both MRSA strains were identical.