Journal Article

Detection of diverse genotypes of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from hospital personnel and the environment in Armenia

Cutler, Ronald R., Kearns, Angela M., Yacoub, Maria, Xu, Zhen, Hambardzumyan, Armen Dz, Pichon, Bruno, Mkrtchyan, Hermine V., Ter-Stepanyan, Mary M., Karapetyan, Hayk D.

2017

Overview

Background Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a public health concern internationally. Studies examining a range of cohorts have been reported from various regions of the world, but little is known about the molecular epidemiology of MRSA in Armenia. Methods Between May and September 2013, twenty isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA; mecA positive) were recovered from hospital personnel ( n  = 10; 9 females, 1 male) and environmental sites ( n  = 10) in the maternity ward of one of the teaching hospitals in Armenia. Results Multi-locus sequence type clonal complex (MLST-CC) assignments inferred from spa typing data revealed the majority belonged to 3 pandemic lineages of MRSA including: t008-CC8-SCC mec V ( n  = 10; 7 from personnel); t021-CC30-SCC mec IV ( n  = 5; all environmental); and t1523-CC45 ( n  = 2; 1 from personnel), one harboured SCC mec V the other was SCC mec non-typable. The remainder identified as belonging to genotype t364-CC182, both of which harboured a novel SCC mec cassette with kdp , rif5 , ccrB2 and ccrC detected by PCR (both from personnel); and t325-CC88-SCC mec IV ( n  = 1; environmental). All MRSA were negative for the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) locus and three CC8 strains were positive for the arginine catabolic element (ACME). Conclusions In this small study, we report for the first time of the occurrence of diverse MRSA genotypes belonging to both pandemic and more sporadic international clones in Armenia harbouring the smaller SCC mec types and/or ACME, both of which have been associated with strain fitness. Further surveillance is warranted to better understand the prevalence, clinical and molecular epidemiology of MRSA throughout Armenia.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: ACME / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Drug Resistance / Epidemiology / Genetic aspects / Genotype / Genotypes / Health aspects / Health facilities / Identification and classification / Infectious Diseases / Maternity ward / Medical Microbiology / MRSA / Pandemic / Pandemics / Prevalence studies (Epidemiology) / Public health / Safety and security measures / SCCmec / Staphylococcus aureus