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 Lemaître, N.
Right arrow Articles by Jarlier, V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lemaître, N.
Right arrow Articles by Jarlier, V.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 81-85, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Gentamicin-Susceptible Strains of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Involved in Nosocomial Spread

Nadine Lemaître,1,* Wladimir Sougakoff,1 Afef Masmoudi,1,2 Marie-Hélène Fievet,3 Roland Bismuth,1 and Vincent Jarlier1

Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Hygiène1 and Pharmacie,3 Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France, and Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire La Rabta, Tunis, Tunisia2

Received 26 June 1997/Returned for modification 4 August 1997/Accepted 10 October 1997

We report an outbreak of epidemic Staphylococcus aureus strains characterized by an unusual heterogeneous resistance to methicillin and resistance to tobramycin but susceptibility to gentamicin (gentamicin-susceptible methicillin-resistant S. aureus [GS-MRSA]), contrasting with gentamicin-resistant homogeneous MRSA (GR-MRSA) that have been endemic in our hospital since the 1970s. A total of 97 GS-MRSA strains, which were shown by DNA hybridization to carry the mecA and ant(4')-Ia genes, were studied. The 40 GS-MRSA strains isolated at the beginning of the outbreak (January 1992 to June 1993) were typed by using resistance patterns, phage typing, serotyping, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and were compared with GR-MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains isolated during the same period. Two dominant clones, A::1 and B::3, and one minor clone, C::5, were identified among the 40 GS-MRSA strains, according to pulsotypes (A to C) and their resistance patterns (1, 3, and 5), which were distinguishable from those of GR-MRSA and MSSA strains. A selection of 57 GS-MRSA strains, isolated from 1994 to 1996, were clustered in the same three clones. However, their distribution had changed in comparison with that in the 1992 to 1993 period: clone A::1 remained dominant (47 versus 42.5%), whereas clone B::3 progressively declined (5 versus 35%) and clone C::5, the most susceptible to antibiotics, spread (44 versus 2.5%). Epidemiological investigations revealed that some clones had been introduced via patients transferred from other hospitals and that cross-infection occurred within and between wards. Major changes in the use of antibiotics, especially aminoglycosides, cyclines, and macrolides, likely played a role in the emergence and spread of GS-MRSA strains.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Faculté de Médecine Pitié-Salpêtrière, 91, Blvd. de l'Hôpital, 75634 Paris Cedex 13, France. Phone: (33) 1.40.77.97.46. Fax: (33) 1.45.82.75.77. E-mail: sougakof{at}lmcp.jusssieu.fr.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 1998, p. 81-85, Vol. 36, No. 1
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Donnio, P.-Y., Fevrier, F., Bifani, P., Dehem, M., Kervegant, C., Wilhelm, N., Gautier-Lerestif, A.-L., Lafforgue, N., Cormier, M., the MR-MSSA Study Group of the College de Bacterio, , Le Coustumier, A. (2007). Molecular and Epidemiological Evidence for Spread of Multiresistant Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Strains in Hospitals. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 4342-4350 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Amorim, M. L., Faria, N. A., Oliveira, D. C., Vasconcelos, C., Cabeda, J. C., Mendes, A. C., Calado, E., Castro, A. P., Ramos, M. H., Amorim, J. M., de Lencastre, H. (2007). Changes in the Clonal Nature and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates Associated with Spread of the EMRSA-15 Clone in a Tertiary Care Portuguese Hospital. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 2881-2888 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Huang, V., Rybak, M. J. (2005). Pharmacodynamics of Cefepime Alone and in Combination with Various Antimicrobials against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an In Vitro Pharmacodynamic Infection Model. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 302-308 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • van der Mee-Marquet, N., Domelier, A.-S., Girard, N., Quentin, R., the Bloodstream Infection Study Group of the Relai, (2004). Epidemiology and Typing of Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated from Bloodstream Infections. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 5650-5657 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Donnio, P.-Y., Preney, L., Gautier-Lerestif, A.-L., Avril, J.-L., Lafforgue, N. (2004). Changes in staphylococcal cassette chromosome type and antibiotic resistance profile in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from a French hospital over an 11 year period. J Antimicrob Chemother 53: 808-813 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Thouverez, M., Muller, A., Hocquet, D., Talon, D., Bertrand, X. (2003). Relationship between molecular epidemiology and antibiotic susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a French teaching hospital. J Med Microbiol 52: 801-806 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Watson, J., Givney, R., Beard-Pegler, M., Rose, B., Merlino, J., Vickery, A., Gottlieb, T., Bradbury, R., Harbour, C. (2003). Comparative Analysis of Multidrug-Resistant, Non-Multidrug-Resistant, and Archaic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Central Sydney, Australia. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 867-872 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Senna, J. P. M., Pinto, C. A., Carvalho, L. P. S., Santos, D. S. (2002). Comparison of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and PCR Analysis of Polymorphisms on the mec Hypervariable Region for Typing Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 2254-2256 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Asseray, N., Caillon, J., Roux, N., Jacqueline, C., Bismuth, R., Kergueris, M. F., Potel, G., Bugnon, D. (2002). Different Aminoglycoside-Resistant Phenotypes in a Rabbit Staphylococcus aureus Endocarditis Infection Model. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46: 1591-1593 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sola, C., Gribaudo, G., Vindel, A., Patrito, L., Bocco, J. L. (2002). Identification of a Novel Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Epidemic Clone in Cordoba, Argentina, Involved in Nosocomial Infections. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 1427-1435 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Blanc, D. S., Francioli, P., Le Coustumier, A., Gazagne, L., Lecaillon, E., Gueudet, P., Vandenesch, F., Etienne, J. (2001). Reemergence of Gentamicin-Susceptible Strains of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in France: a Phylogenetic Approach. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 2287-2290 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Laurent, F., Lelievre, H., Cornu, M., Vandenesch, F., Carret, G., Etienne, J., Flandrois, J.-P. (2001). Fitness and competitive growth advantage of new gentamicin-susceptible MRSA clones spreading in French hospitals. J Antimicrob Chemother 47: 277-283 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pournaras, S., Slavakis, A., Polyzou, A., Sofianou, D., Maniatis, A. N., Tsakris, A. (2001). Nosocomial Spread of an Unusual Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clone That Is Sensitive to All Non-{beta}-Lactam Antibiotics, Including Tobramycin. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 779-781 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Carricajo, A., Fonsale, N., Vautrin, A. C., Aubert, G. (2000). In vitro activity of {beta}-lactams against gentamicin-susceptible and gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. J Antimicrob Chemother 46: 856-858 [Full Text]  
  • Shimizu, A., Fujita, M., Igarashi, H., Takagi, M., Nagase, N., Sasaki, A., Kawano, J. (2000). Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Coagulase Type VII Isolates from Staphylococcal Food Poisoning Outbreaks (1980-1995) in Tokyo, Japan, by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 3746-3749 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Galdbart, J.-O., Morvan, A., El Solh, N. (2000). Phenotypic and Molecular Typing of Nosocomial Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains Susceptible to Gentamicin Isolated in France from 1995 to 1997. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 185-190 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lelièvre, H., Lina, G., Jones, M. E., Olive, C., Forey, F., Roussel-Delvallez, M., Nicolas-Chanoine, M.-H., Bébéar, C. M., Jarlier, V., Andremont, A., Vandenesch, F., Etienne, J. (1999). Emergence and Spread in French Hospitals of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus with Increasing Susceptibility to Gentamicin and Other Antibiotics. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 3452-3457 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»