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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3442-3445, Vol. 39, No. 10
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3442-3445.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Epidemiological Validation of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Patterns for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

D. S. Blanc,1,* M. J. Struelens,2 A. Deplano,2 R. De Ryck,2 P. M. Hauser,1 C. Petignat,1 and P. Francioli1

Division Autonome de Médecine Préventive Hospitalière, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland,1 and Service de Microbiologie, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium2

Received 30 April 2001/Returned for modification 6 June 2001/Accepted 11 July 2001

To determine the stability of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the nosocomial setting, we analyzed isolates from long-term carriers (>1 month) and from patients involved in well-defined nosocomial epidemics. The number of fragment differences between the first isolate and subsequent isolates in long-term carriers showed a bimodal distribution, with one group having 0 to 6 fragment differences and the other group having 14 to 24 fragment differences. The PFGE patterns of isolates involved in epidemics also presented a similar bimodal distribution of the number of fragment differences. Typing these isolates with another molecular method (inter-IS256 PCR) showed that isolates of the first group (i.e., with 1 to 6 fragment differences) were clonally related, whereas the second group (with 14 to 24 fragment differences) could be considered genetically different. Among long-term carriers with clonally related isolates, 74 of 84 (88%) of consecutive isolates showed indistinguishable patterns, whereas 10 of 84 (12%) showed related patterns differing by one to six fragments. Moreover, the frequency of apparition of related patterns is higher when the time between the first and the subsequent isolate is longer. During seven nosocomial epidemics lasting from 1 to 15 months, only 2 of 120 isolates (1.7%) showed a pattern which was different, although related, from the predominant one involved in each of these outbreaks.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division Autonome de Médecine Préventive Hospitalière, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. Phone: 41-21-314-02-59. Fax: 41-21-314-02-62. E-mail: Dominique.Blanc{at}chuv.hospvd.ch.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3442-3445, Vol. 39, No. 10
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3442-3445.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.