Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a university hospital in northwestern Spain Authors Jaime Ariza-Miguel Institute of Agricultural Technology of Castilla y León, Valladolid Marta Hernández Institute of Agricultural Technology of Castilla y León, Valladolid Isabel Fernández-Natal University Hospital of Leon, Leon, Spain. Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of Leon, Leon. David Rodríguez-Lázaro Microbiology Section. Faculty of Sciences University of Burgos Keywords: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), clonal population, molecular epidemiology, multilocus sequence typing Abstract Continuous monitoring of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is necessary to understand the clonal evolution of successful lineages. In this study, we identifi ed the MRSA clones circulating in a Spanish hospital during a 2-year period, assessed their relationship with antimicrobial resistance profi les, and investigated the presence of the emerging community-associated and livestock-associated MRSA lineages (CA-MRSA, LA-MRSA). CC5-MRSA-IV isolates were the most frequently recovered, which supports the previously reported prevalence of this clone in Spanish hospitals. We observed ST125 isolates that harbored specifi c cassette chromosome recombinase (ccr) gene elements of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types IV and VI. That clone, which was fi rst detected only recently, has increased resistance to erythromycin. Furthermore, 94% of the infections were caused by non-multiresistant isolates. Neither CA-MRSA nor LA-MRSA isolates were observed. These fi ndings, along with related events over the last decade, suggest the establishment of a clonal endemic population in the Spanish clinical environment. [Int Microbiol 2014; 17(3):149-157]Keywords: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) · clonal population · molecular epidemiology · multilocus sequence typing Author Biography Jaime Ariza-Miguel, Institute of Agricultural Technology of Castilla y León, Valladolid Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 17 No. 3 (2014) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
