Korean J Infect Dis.  1997 Nov;29(6):453-462.

Genetic Relatedness of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates Recovered from 3 Different Hospitals in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Sung Kyun Kwan University, College of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center.
  • 2Samsung Biomedical Research Institute.
  • 3Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University.
  • 4Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a major pathogen of nosocomial infection. In Korea, incidence of MRSA is alarmingly high up to 70-80% of total S. aureus strains isolated from tertiary care hospitals. To investigate the mechanism of intra- and inter-hospital spread of MRSA, we evaluated the genetic relatedness of MRSA isolates recovered from 3 different hospitals in Korea.
METHODS
30 MRSA isolates obtained from Samsung Medical Center(SMC), 37 MRSA isolates from Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and 40 MRSA isolates from Dankook University Hospital (DUH) were classified into clonal types on the basis of pulsed field gel electrophoresis(PFGE).
RESULTS
Several PFGE patterns were predominant among the isolates from SMC(A-7/30[23.3%], B-6/30[20.0%], C-4/30[13.3%], G-3/30[10.0%]). The prevalent PFGE patterns were different between medical ICU(A-3/5[60.0%]) and newborn ICU(B-4/9[44.4%]). The major clone at SNUH was PFGE type A, which was identical with one of the dominant clones of SMC. The major clone at DUH was PFGE type B, which was identical with another dominant clone of SMC. Although MRSA strains from SMC, which caused clinical diseases belonged to major PFGE patterns more often than colonized strains, the association was not significant statistically.
CONCLUSION
The presence of epidemic strains of MRSA suggests that epidemic MRSA clones may be originated from common sources and spread between different hospitals. Also, there may be virulence factors of stains or host factors, which could select specific strains.

Keyword

Staphylococcus aureus; Methicillin-resistance; Nosocomial infections; Genotyping; Pulsed field gel electrophoresis

MeSH Terms

Clone Cells
Colon
Coloring Agents
Cross Infection
Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
Humans
Incidence
Infant, Newborn
Korea*
Methicillin Resistance*
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus*
Seoul
Staphylococcus aureus
Tertiary Healthcare
Virulence Factors
Coloring Agents
Virulence Factors
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