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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2009, p. 1524-1527, Vol. 47, No. 5
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02153-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

A Common Variant of Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Type IVa in Isolates from Copenhagen, Denmark, Is Not Detected by the BD GeneOhm Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Assay {triangledown}

Mette Damkjaer Bartels,1* Kit Boye,1 Susanne Mie Rohde,1 Anders Rhod Larsen,2 Herbert Torfs,3 Peggy Bouchy,4 Robert Skov,2 and Henrik Westh1,5

Department of Clinical Microbiology, Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark,1 Staphylococcus Laboratory, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark,2 Becton Dickinson, Erembodegem, Belgium,3 Becton Dickinson, Quebec, Canada,4 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark5

Received 10 November 2008/ Returned for modification 20 February 2009/ Accepted 9 March 2009

Rapid tests for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage are important to limit the transmission of MRSA in the health care setting. We evaluated the performance of the BD GeneOhm MRSA real-time PCR assay using a diverse collection of MRSA isolates, mainly from Copenhagen, Denmark, but also including international isolates, e.g., USA100-1100. Pure cultures of 349 MRSA isolates representing variants of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types I to V and 103 different staphylococcal protein A (spa) types were tested. In addition, 53 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates were included as negative controls. Forty-four MRSA isolates were undetectable; of these, 95% harbored SCCmec type IVa, and these included the most-common clone in Copenhagen, spa t024-sequence type 8-IVa. The false-negative MRSA isolates were tested with new primers (analyte-specific reagent [ASR] BD GeneOhm MRSA assay) supplied by Becton Dickinson (BD). The ASR BD GeneOhm MRSA assay detected 42 of the 44 isolates that were false negative in the BD GeneOhm MRSA assay. Combining the BD GeneOhm MRSA assay with the ASR BD GeneOhm MRSA assay greatly improved the results, with only two MRSA isolates being false negative. The BD GeneOhm MRSA assay alone is not adequate for MRSA detection in Copenhagen, Denmark, as more than one-third of our MRSA isolates would not be detected. We recommend that the BD GeneOhm MRSA assay be evaluated against the local MRSA diversity before being established as a standard assay, and due to the constant evolution of SCCmec cassettes, a continuous global surveillance is advisable in order to update the assay as necessary.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Microbiology 445, Hvidovre Hospital, Dk-2650 Hvidovre, Denmark. Phone: 4536326349. Fax: 4536323357. E-mail: mette.damkjaer{at}dadlnet.dk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 18 March 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2009, p. 1524-1527, Vol. 47, No. 5
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02153-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Snyder, J. W., Munier, G. K., Heckman, S. A., Camp, P., Overman, T. L. (2009). Failure of the BD GeneOhm StaphSR Assay for Direct Detection of Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolates in Positive Blood Cultures Collected in the United States. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 3747-3748 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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