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Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
12:18

Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)

Published on: February 9, 2011

Pulmonary manifestations in children with invasive community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infection

Blanca E Gonzalez1, Kristina G Hulten, Megan K Dishop

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.

Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
|August 5, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections in children frequently involve the lungs. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene presence strongly correlates with severe pneumonia and metastatic lung disease in these patients.

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pulmonology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Invasive community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections are increasingly associated with pulmonary complications.
  • Texas Children's Hospital has observed a rise in primary pneumonia and metastatic pulmonary infections.
  • Understanding the factors contributing to lung involvement is crucial for patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize pulmonary involvement in pediatric invasive community-acquired S. aureus infections.
  • To investigate the correlation between Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and collagen adhesin (cna) genes and pulmonary manifestations.
  • To differentiate between primary and metastatic pulmonary disease in affected children.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of pediatric patients with invasive S. aureus infections admitted between 2001 and 2004.
  • Analysis of chest imaging and postmortem examination reports for pulmonary findings.
  • PCR testing of S. aureus isolates for the presence of PVL and cna genes.

Main Results:

  • A significant association was found between community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and abnormal pulmonary imaging (47/70) compared to methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) (12/43).
  • Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive isolates were highly correlated with abnormal chest imaging findings (51/80) versus PVL-negative isolates (2/23).
  • PVL gene presence was independently associated with abnormal chest imaging in patients with secondary pneumonia (P = .03).

Conclusions:

  • Pulmonary involvement is a common complication of invasive community-acquired S. aureus infections in children.
  • Community-acquired MRSA can lead to both primary pneumonia and metastatic lung disease.
  • The presence of genes encoding PVL is a significant risk factor for pulmonary involvement in S. aureus infections.
Abstract

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