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Updated: Mar 12, 2026
Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA
Published on: February 9, 2011
MRSA infections among patients in the emergency department: a European multicentre study
C Bouchiat1, S Curtis2, I Spiliopoulou3
1National Reference Center for Staphylococci, 59 Bd Louis Pinel, 69677 Bron cedex, Lyon, France coralie.bouchiat@chu-lyon.fr.
Background:
MRSA is a therapeutic concern worldwide, and a major agent of community-acquired skin and soft tissue infections (CA-SSTIs). While the US epidemiology of MRSA in CA-SSTIs is well described and reports the high prevalence of the USA300 clone, data on the European situation are lacking.
Objectives:
To determine the prevalence and clonal characteristics of MRSA in CA-SSTIs in seven European emergency departments.
Patients And Methods:
From April to June 2015, patients presenting to the tertiary hospital emergency department with a Staphylococcus aureus CA-SSTI were prospectively enrolled. S. aureus isolates were characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, detection of Panton-Valentine leucocidin encoding genes and spa-typing, MLST and/or DNA microarray.
Results:
Two-hundred and five cases of S. aureus-associated CA-SSTIs were included, comprising folliculitis, furuncles, abscesses, paronychia, impetigo, carbuncles and cellulitis. Of the 205 cases, we report an MRSA prevalence rate of 15.1%, with a north (0%) to south (29%) increasing gradient. Fifty-one isolates were Panton-Valentine leucocidin-positive (24.9%), whether MSSA or MRSA, with a heterogeneous distribution between countries. Clonal distribution of MSSA and MRSA showed high diversity, with no predominant circulating clone and no archetypical USA300 CA-MRSA clone.
Conclusions:
This original prospective multicentre study highlights stark differences in European MRSA epidemiology compared with the USA, and that the USA300 CA-MRSA clone is not predominant among community-infected patients in Europe.
