Impact of Community-Onset Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus on Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia in a Central Korea Veterans Health Service Hospital.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

No study has examined the epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia in Korean veterans' hospitals. We investigated the microbiological and clinical epidemiology of S. aureus bacteremia at the central Veterans Health Services (VHS) hospital in Korea.

METHODS:

Patients with S. aureus bacteremia were consecutively enrolled from February to August 2015. Bacteremia was classified as hospital-acquired (HA), community-onset healthcare-associated (COHA), or community-acquired (CA). MRSA bacteremia risk factors were analyzed. Species identification, antimicrobial susceptibility, and presence of luk and tst were tested. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing, spa sequence typing agr polymorphism typing, and multilocus sequence typing were performed. Biofilm production and δ-hemolysin activity were measured to determine agr function.

RESULTS:

In total, 60 patients were enrolled (30 HA, 23 COHA, and seven CA bacteremia); 44 (73.3%) had MRSA bacteremia (26 HA, 16 COHA, and two CA). MRSA bacteremia occurred more frequently in non-CA patients and those who had received antibiotic treatment within the past month (P<0.05). The major MRSA strains comprised 24 ST5-agr2-SCCmecII, 11 ST72-agr 1-SCCmecIV, and five ST8-agr1-SCCmecIV strains. Of 26 agr2-SCCmecII strains, including two MSSA strains, 25 were multidrug-resistant, 18 were tst-positive, and 13 were agr-defective, whereas only five of the 18 agr1-SCCmecIV strains were multidrug-resistant, and all were tst-negative and agr-intact. agr1-SCCmecIV and ST8-agr1-SCCmecIV strains were more likely than agr2-SCCmecII strains to be COHA.

CONCLUSIONS:

MRSA was highly prevalent in both COHA and HA bacteremia. The introduction of virulent CA-MRSA strains may be an important cause of increased HA-MRSA bacteremia in VHS hospitals.

• Authors: Eunsin Bae, Choon Kwan Kim, Jung Hyun Jang, Heungsup Sung, YounMi Choi, Mi Na Kim
• Journal: Annals of laboratory medicine (Ann Lab Med) Vol. 39 Issue 2 Pg. 158-166 (Mar 2019) ISSN: 2234-3814 [Electronic] Korea (South)
• PMID: 30430778 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine.

Chemical References

• Anti-Infective Agents
• Bacterial Proteins
• Penicillin-Binding Proteins
• mecA protein, Staphylococcus aureus

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Anti-Infective Agents (pharmacology)
• Bacteremia (diagnosis, microbiology)
• Bacterial Proteins (genetics)
• Cluster Analysis
• Community-Acquired Infections (diagnosis, microbiology)
• Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial (genetics)
• Female
• Hospitals
• Humans
• Male
• Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (drug effects, genetics, isolation & purification)
• Middle Aged
• Penicillin-Binding Proteins (genetics)
• Republic of Korea
• Staphylococcal Infections (diagnosis, microbiology)
• Staphylococcus aureus (drug effects, genetics, isolation & purification)
• Veterans Health