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Genetic diversity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a tertiary hospital in The Netherlands between 2002 and 2006

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones isolated in a Dutch university hospital, situated near the borders of Belgium and Germany, between 2002 and 2006. MRSA strains (n = 175) were characterized using spa and SCCmec typing. The presence of Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) was determined. Between 2002 and 2005, ST5-MRSA-IV was predominant, and the spa type of ST5-MRSA-IV changed from t002 to t447. ST5-MRSA-I, ST5-MRSA-II, ST228-MRSA-I, and ST247-MRSA-I were also observed in this period. From 2004, the MRSA genetic background became more diverse, and in 2006, ST5-MRSA-IV was only sporadically observed. From 2005, ST5-MRSA-II, ST8-MRSA-IV, ST22-MRSA-IV, and ST45-MRSA-IV were increasingly observed. Several other MRSA clones, such as ST239-MRSA-III, were found sporadically. Four PVL-positive MRSA isolates were observed, associated with ST80-MRSA-IV and ST8-MRSA-IV. ST5-MRSA-I, ST5-MRSA-II, ST5-MRSA-IV, and ST228-MRSA-I have not been described previously in The Netherlands.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. de Lencastre and D.C. Oliveira from The Rockefeller University, New York, New York for providing the reference strains for SCCmec typing, as well as T. Ito from the Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan, for providing the reference strain (WIS) for SCCmec V, and W. Wannet from the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, The Netherlands, for the MRSA cluster 28 strain. Furthermore, we are grateful to R. Mohammed for MIC determinations.

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  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, General Hospital Sint Jan, Ruddesrhove 10, 8000, Brugge, Belgium

    E. Nulens

  2. Department of Medical Microbiology, Maastricht University Medical Center, P. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    E. E. Stobberingh, E. Smeets, H. van Dessel, M. A. Welling, S. Sebastian, F. H. van Tiel, P. S. Beisser & R. H. Deurenberg

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  1. E. Nulens
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Correspondence to R. H. Deurenberg.

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Nulens, E., Stobberingh, E.E., Smeets, E. et al. Genetic diversity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a tertiary hospital in The Netherlands between 2002 and 2006. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 28, 631–639 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-008-0686-0

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