JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ruppitsch, W.
Right arrow Articles by Allerberger, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ruppitsch, W.
Right arrow Articles by Allerberger, F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2006, p. 2442-2448, Vol. 44, No. 7
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00113-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Classifying spa Types in Complexes Improves Interpretation of Typing Results for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Werner Ruppitsch,* Alexander Indra, Anna Stöger, Barbara Mayer, Silke Stadlbauer, Günther Wewalka, and Franz Allerberger

Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Spargelfeldstrasse 191, 1226 Vienna, Austria

Received 18 January 2006/ Returned for modification 23 February 2006/ Accepted 6 May 2006

A total of 382 isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus originating from three Austrian regions and one adjacent Italian region (Vienna, Lower Austria, North Tyrol, and South Tyrol) were typed by DNA sequence analysis of the variable repeat region of the protein A gene (spa typing). The strain collection consisted of arbitrarily chosen isolates originating from clinical specimens taken in the years 2003 to 2005 at 17 hospitals. The most common spa types found were t001 (28.8% of all isolates), t190 (27.0%), t008 (14.1%), and t041 (11.3%). The 42 remaining spa types accounted for ≤2.4% each. The dominating spa types varied between the different regions. As short sequence DNA repeat units are unstable entities, the 46 spa types were classified into seven spa complexes with respect to short sequence repeat unit composition and organization. Such classification into complexes can provide additional information for the hospital epidemiologist, empowering one to differentiate the introduction of a new strain from mere variation of endemic spa types.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Spargelfeldstrasse 191, A-1226 Vienna, Austria. Phone: 0043 50 555 32204. Fax: 0043 50 555 32219. E-mail: werner.ruppitsch{at}ages.at.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2006, p. 2442-2448, Vol. 44, No. 7
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00113-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2006 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.