Spread of the multiresistant Iberian clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to Italy and Scotland. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The multidrug-resistant "Iberian" clone of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was first identified on the basis of its unique DNA fingerprints as the strain responsible for the massive 1989 outbreak of MRSA disease in the hospital Princeps d'Espanya, Barcelona, Spain. Most Iberian MRSA carry a constitutive beta-lactamase. They are resistant to most beta-lactam antibiotics, macrolides, aminoglycosides, tetracycline, rifampin and ciprofloxacin and are susceptible to fosfomycin, fusidic acid, mupirocin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and vancomycin. The characteristic DNA fingerprints of the clone include the mecA polymorph I, Tn554 pattern E (or its variants), a chromosomal macrorestriction pattern (pulsed-field gel electrophoretic type) A (or its subtype variants), the lack of the mecI regulatory gene and a homogeneous, high level of expression of methicillin resistance. Molecular surveillance studies have documented the extensive spread of this clone to many Portuguese hospitals during the 1990s. In this article, we describe the spread of the Iberian MRSA to hospitals in Rome, Italy, and Scotland.

publication date

  • January 1, 1998

Research

keywords

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple
  • Methicillin Resistance
  • Staphylococcal Infections
  • Staphylococcus aureus

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0031748661

PubMed ID

  • 9650996

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 4

issue

  • 2