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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 3970-3975, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.3970-3975.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

mecA Gene Is Widely Disseminated in Staphylococcus aureus Population

C. L. C. Wielders,* A. C. Fluit, S. Brisse, J. Verhoef, and F. J. Schmitz

Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, University Medical Centre, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands

Received 11 March 2002/ Returned for modification 28 May 2002/ Accepted 4 August 2002

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important causes of hospital infections worldwide. High-level resistance to methicillin is caused by the mecA gene, which encodes an alternative penicillin-binding protein, PBP 2a. To determine the clonal relationships between methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA, we typed 1,069 S. aureus isolates (493 MSSA isolates and 576 MRSA isolates), collected mainly in North American and European hospitals between the 1960s and the year 2000, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and ribotyping. Of 10 widespread S. aureus lineages recognized, 8 had corresponding mecA-positive strains. Multiresistant MRSA strains are found in hospitals worldwide, while unrelated and more susceptible strains represent less than 1% of the MRSA population. This supports the hypothesis that horizontal transfer plays an important role in the dissemination of the mecA gene in the S. aureus population.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Eijkman-Winkler Institute for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Inflammation, University Medical Centre, Room G04.614, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands. Phone: 00 31 30 2506534. Fax: 00 31 30 2541770. E-mail: c.wielders{at}azu.lab.nl.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 3970-3975, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.3970-3975.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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