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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2003, p. 4980-4985, Vol. 41, No. 11
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.11.4980-4985.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Hong Kong by Phage Typing, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, and Fluorescent Amplified-Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis

M. Ip,1* D. J. Lyon,1 F. Chio,1 M. C. Enright,2 and A. F. Cheng1

Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong,1 Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom2

Received 11 April 2003/ Returned for modification 24 June 2003/ Accepted 28 July 2003

The genetic relatedness of 127 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates, belonging to five major types as identified by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and antibiotic resistance profiles, was examined further using phage typing and fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (FAFLP). The MRSA isolates were recovered from patients at the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH), Hong Kong, over a 13-year period, 1988 to 2000. These strains were also compared with representatives of the well-described MRSA international clones and with epidemic MRSA strains (eMRSA) 1 to 16 from the United Kingdom. Phage typing distinguished two major "clones" at this hospital: all of the phage type 1 (PT1) isolates belonged to PFGE types A, C, D, and E, while most of the PT2 isolates were associated with PFGE type B, which exhibited a unique antibiotic resistance profile. MRSA isolates belonging to PFGE subtype A2 were indistinguishable from the British eMRSA-1, while isolates of PFGE type B were closely related to eMRSA-9 by PFGE. Based on FAFLP, all five predominant PFGE types at the PWH belonged to one group and fell into the same cluster as eMRSA-1, -4, -7, -9, and -11 isolates. Multilocus sequence typing and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing classified representatives of our MRSA isolates as members of the same clone (ST239-MRSA-III). Thus, the predominant MRSA isolates frin the PWH in the last decade are closely related to early United Kingdom eMRSA clones 1, 4, and 11 and are members of a lineage that includes the Brazilian MRSA clone.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Phone: (852) 2632 2306. Fax: (852) 2647 3227. E-mail: margaretip{at}cuhk.edu.hk.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2003, p. 4980-4985, Vol. 41, No. 11
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.11.4980-4985.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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