Characterization of PVL‐positive MRSA from Norway

Norway is a country in which the Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence has been low for the last decades. There are virtually no epidemic, hospital‐acquired MRSA because of an emphasis on strict infection control rules and restrictive use of antibiotics. However, community‐acquired and/or Panton‐Valentine leucocidin (PVL)‐positive MRSA need to be monitored as these strains are transmitted outside of healthcare facilities and cannot be contained by healthcare‐centred strategies. All 179 non‐repetitive isolates of PVL‐positive MRSA that were received during 2011 at the regional infection control laboratory at Akershus University Hospital were preserved and spa typed. Seventy isolates were further characterized by DNA microarray hybridization. The most common PVL‐MRSA lineages were ST8‐MRSA‐IV and CC30‐MRSA‐IV. Further common clones were CC80‐MRSA‐IV and CC5‐MRSA‐IV. Other clones were found sporadically. These included ST772‐MRSA‐V and ST834‐MRSA‐IV, the latter in patients with epidemiological connections to the Philippines. Small‐scale family outbreaks affecting at least 49 individuals were noted, with numbers of known cases per outbreak ranging from two to seven. At least 24 cases were related to foreign travel to Eritrea, India, Iraq, Macedonia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Turkey, the USA and Vietnam. These data show that community‐acquired/PVL‐positive MRSA are not yet a major public health problem in Southern Norway. Our study corroborates the current practice of mandatory screening of patients and staff with travel histories, admissions or employment in healthcare institutions outside the Scandinavian countries or with known MRSA contacts.