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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2000, p. 2475-2479, Vol. 38, No. 7
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of Polyclonal mefA-Containing Isolates among Erythromycin-Resistant Group A Streptococci in Southern Taiwan

Jing-Jou Yan,1 Hsiu-Mei Wu,2 Ah-Huei Huang,1 Hsiu-Mei Fu,2 Chen-Ting Lee,2 and Jiunn-Jong Wu2,*

Department of Pathology, National Cheng Kung University Medical Center,1 and Department of Medical Technology, National Cheng Kung University Medical College,2 Tainan, Taiwan

Received 4 January 2000/Returned for modification 17 February 2000/Accepted 21 April 2000

A total of 204 nonrepetitive isolates of group A streptococci (GAS), including 107 randomly collected between 1992 and 1995 and 66 and 31 consecutively collected in 1997 and 1998, respectively, from a university hospital in southern Taiwan were examined to determine the prevalence and mechanisms of erythromycin resistance among these isolates. Resistance to erythromycin was detected in 129 isolates (63.2%) by the agar dilution test. Of these, 42 isolates (32.6%) were assigned to the constitutive macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B resistance (cMLS) phenotype, and all carried the ermB gene; 4 (3.1%) were assigned to the inducible MLS resistance (iMLS) phenotype, and all harbored the ermTR gene; and 83 (64.3%) were erythromycin resistant but susceptible to clindamycin (M phenotype), and all possessed the mefA gene. Distributed by years, the rates of erythromycin resistance and different phenotypes were 61.7% (53.0% cMLS, 6.1% iMLS, and 40.9% M phenotype) between 1992 and 1995, 62.1% (12.2% cMLS and 87.8% M phenotype) in 1997, and 71.0% (9.1% cMLS and 90.9% M phenotype) in 1998. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that all but 2 cMLS isolates were clonal in origin, and 17 clones were detected among the M-phenotype isolates. These results indicate that the high incidence and increasing rate of erythromycin-resistant GAS in southern Taiwan are due to the prevalence of multiple M-phenotype clones and that clindamycin may be the drug of choice for the treatment of infections with GAS in penicillin-hypersensitive patients in this area.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Technology, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, No. 1 University Rd., Tainan, Taiwan 70101. Phone: 886-6-2353535, ext. 5775. Fax: 886-6-2363956. E-mail: jjwu{at}mail.ncku.edu.tw.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2000, p. 2475-2479, Vol. 38, No. 7
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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