Molecular epidemiologic analysis of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from four burn centers

Staphylococcus aureus has been a major cause of hospital-acquired infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged since 1980s as an epidemiologic problem in hospitals. This old pathogen brings a new challenge to all physicians and bacteriologists. Hence, effective measures of MRSA control are in critical need. S. aureus or MRSA is one of the leading causes of infection among burn centers, resulting in a number of poor outcomes and even death. The present study performed a molecular epidemiologic analysis of S. aureus isolated from four burn centers in the southeast of China. A total of 85 isolates were collected, and molecular characters were determined for further investigation. In this study, the prevalent clone of MRSA among four burn centers was found to be SCCmec III (spa-type t030, agr I), which is resistant to 4 kinds of antimicrobials including erythromycin, clindamycin, kanamycin and mupirocin. Discrepancy between mecA detection and conventional tests used for MRSA identification was observed unintentionally. Our data demonstrated that the overall prevalence rate of MRSA was 55.3%, and drugs such as sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, linezolid and fusidic acid are efficient antibiotic options for treating S. aureus or MRSA infections among four burn centers studied in present investigation.