• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1985

A total of 211 strains of Staphylococcus aureus which included 118 strains isolated from various clinical specimens of admitted patients of University Hospital with systemic or severe cases of infection and 93 strains from infected skin diseases of out-patients of dermatology clinic located in rural area, were tested for the antimicrobial susceptibility to the 12 drugs of common use and the phage typing. An these were subjected to the study of plasmid profile analysis for the molecular epidemiology of nosocomial infections. University Hospital(UH) isolates showed higher frequency of resistance than local clinic(LC) isolates against 10 drugs excluding tetracycline(Tc), and trimethoprim(Tp). The MIC of UH isolates were above than $128{\mu}g/ml$ against 9 drugs except Tc, gentamicin(Gm), and Tp, but LC isolates did not show such a high level of MIC. There was difference of MIC needed to inhibit 90% of strains(MIC90) against each drugs tested between two groups of UH and LC isolates. UH isolates showed 2 to 4 times higher value of MIC90 by two-fold serial dilution of drug concentration than LC isolates. Tp was considered as an effective drug in treatment of staphylococcal infections whereas ampicillin and Gm were appeared to be ineffective. Seventy-three strains(61.9%) of UH isolates and 70(69.9%) of LC were typable with phages from Colindale Reference Laboratory. The prevailing phage type of UH isolates belonged to lytic group II were 27 strains(22.9%) and those of LC isolates belonged to lytic group II were 23 strains(24.7%). Thirteen strains(11.0%) of UH isolates were multiply resistant to more than 5 drugs to 10 drugs but none of LC isolates. Through the lysis method of Kado and Liu followed by agarose gel electrophoresis, none of 211 strains showed plasmid profile. These results were confirmed by re-examination through the method of Birnboim and Doly.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.148-160
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreak at a newborn nursery and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods: During the outbreak, from August to September 2017, MRSA isolates collected from neonates and medical staff underwent genotyping and screened for virulence factors. Antibiotic susceptibilities were tested. Results: During the study period, 41 neonates were admitted at the nursery (n=27) and NICU (n=14). Of these, 7 had MRSA infections (skin infection [n=6] and sepsis [n=1]) and 4 were colonized with MRSA. Associated medical staff (n=32) were screened; three were nasal MRSA carriers. Staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) type II, sequence type (ST) 89, spa type t375 was found to be the skin infection outbreak causing strain, with multi-drug resistance including low-level mupirocin resistance. SCCmec type IVa, ST 72, and a novel spa type designated t17879, was the cause of MRSA sepsis. Many different types of MRSA were colonized on the neonates; however, SCCmec type IVa, ST 72, spa type t664 was colonized in both neonates and a NICU nurse. All MRSA isolates from colonized infants were positive for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin gene. Conclusions: The strain causing an outbreak of skin infections had multi-drug resistance. Also, MRSA colonized in the neonates were found to carry the PVL toxin gene. Because different strains are present during an outbreak, molecular epidemiologic studies are important to identify the outbreak strain and colonized strains which aid in effective control and prevention of future MRSA outbreaks.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.230-237
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• 2020

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is known as a bacterium that can cause skin infections, respiratory system infections, and sinusitis; however, it can exist as a normal flora rather than a pathogen. Recently, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections have emerged in the community as a new variant of community-associated (CA)-MRSA. In the present study, S. aureus and MRSA were isolated and cultured by collecting samples from facilities and environments where students and educational personnel have multiple contacts on university campuses; specifically, the nostrils and hands of college students were tested from July to September of 2019. The molecular properties of the isolated MRSA were analyzed, and the one MRSA strain was isolated from the university campuses. One MRSA that was isolated and cultured on campus was the mec complex group A and staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec type II, which is a characteristic of healthcare-associated (HA)-MRSA, and SCCmec type V, which is a characteristic of CA-MRSA. This result was similar to other studies wherein the SCCmec type II was detected in SCCmec typing analysis in CA-MRSA. To confirm whether there is a new variant of CA-MRSA in the Republic of Korea, additional follow-up studies on the analysis of virulence factors of MRSA are needed by additionally separating CA-MRSA from the body parts of university students and educational personnel.