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Comparison of community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from teaching hospitals in London and the USA, 2004–2006: where is USA300 in the UK?

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Abstract

Community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is increasingly common in the USA, but rare in the UK. We compared CA-MRSA from the UK and USA to examine differences in the molecular epidemiology. We investigated patients presenting with MRSA in the first 72 h of hospital admission or in out-patient settings in a UK and a US hospital from January 2004 to March 2006. Fluoroquinolone susceptibility was used as a screening marker to select presumptive CA-MRSA. One hundred and eighteen and 49 such strains were identified, representing a prevalence of 0.1 and 0.2 isolates per 1,000 patient days in the UK and US respectively. Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive ST8-IVa (USA300)-type strains predominated among 43 surviving US isolates, whereas PVL-negative ST1-IVa predominated among 71 surviving UK isolates. There are striking differences between the molecular epidemiology of CA-MRSA in UK and US hospitals, which may have implications for control.

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Acknowledgements

JAO is supported by a grant from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, London. We wish to acknowledge Dr Angela Kearns and her team (Health Protection Agency Staphylococcus Reference Laboratory, London) for the use of PFGE facilities and Dr. Stefan Monecke (Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Dresden University, Germany) for analysis of Clondiag data.

Conflicts of interest statement

JAO is employed part-time by BIOQUELL (UK) Ltd. NLH, JMB and GLF have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London, London, UK

    J. A. Otter & G. L. French

  2. Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, CT, USA

    N. L. Havill & J. M. Boyce

  3. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    J. M. Boyce

  4. Department of Infection, 5th Floor, North Wing, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7EH, UK

    G. L. French

Authors
  1. J. A. Otter
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  2. N. L. Havill
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  3. J. M. Boyce
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  4. G. L. French
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Correspondence to G. L. French.

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Otter, J.A., Havill, N.L., Boyce, J.M. et al. Comparison of community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from teaching hospitals in London and the USA, 2004–2006: where is USA300 in the UK?. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 28, 835–839 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-008-0698-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-008-0698-9

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