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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2005, p. 5164-5170, Vol. 43, No. 10
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.10.5164-5170.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Zürich, Switzerland (2003): Prevalence of Type IV SCCmec and a New SCCmec Element Associated with Isolates from Intravenous Drug Users

Wei Qi ,^1,, Miriam Ender,^1, Frances O'Brien,² Alexander Imhof,³ Christian Ruef,³ Nadine McCallum,^1* and Brigitte Berger-Bächi¹

Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, CH-8006 Zürich, Switzerland,¹ Gram-Positive Bacteria Typing and Research Unit and Molecular Genetics Research Unit, School of Biomedical Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia,² Hospital Epidemiology Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital of Zürich, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland³

Received 24 May 2005/ Returned for modification 15 July 2005/ Accepted 26 July 2005

The majority of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates, recovered in 2003 at the Department of Medical Microbiology in Zürich, Switzerland, belonged to major clones that are circulating worldwide. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type IV (SCCmec-IV), harbored by half of the isolates, was found in sequence type 217 (ST217), which is an allelic variant of epidemic MRSA-15 (designated EMRSA-15), in a new local ST617 descending from clonal complex CC8 and in low-level oxacillin-resistant strains of multiple genetic lineages characteristic of community-onset MRSA. SCCmec-I, SCCmec-II, and SCCmec-III were in the minority, and four MRSA isolates had complex, rearranged SCCmec elements. A novel SCCmec-N1 of approximately 30 kb, associated with a dfrA gene and a ccr4-related recombinase complex, was identified in a large number of low-level oxacillin-resistant isolates, which descended from the successful clonal complex CC45 and are spreading among intraveneous drug users. In contrast, the SCCmec types of oxacillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCNS) were of completely different composition. SCCmec type I (SCCmec-I) and SCCmec-II were more frequent than in the MRSA, while fewer contained SCCmec-IV. The other MRCNS displayed 11 different, complex patterns, suggesting frequent recombination between different SCCmec elements. With one ccr-negative exception, these strains amplified between one and three different ccr products, indicating either new varied complexes or multiple ccr loci. This suggests the presence of novel SCCmec types in MRCNS and no extensive interspecies SCCmec transfer between MRSA and MRCNS.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Zürich, Gloriastr. 32, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 44 634 26 94. Fax: 41 44 634 49 06. E-mail: mccallum{at}immv.unizh.ch.

Present address: Institute of Infectious Diseases, The Second Teaching Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300211, People's Republic of China.

These two authors contributed equally to this study.

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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2005, p. 5164-5170, Vol. 43, No. 10
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.10.5164-5170.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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