TRIPLEX REAL-TIME PCR FOR DETECTION OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND PANTON-VALENTINE LEUKOCIDIN IN NORTH-EAST ROMANIA

The aim of the present study was to investigate S. aureus isolates for the presence of methicillin-resistance and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes and to further characterize positive strains by means of antibiotic resistance patterns. Material and Methods: We used a triplex Real-Time PCR method for simultaneous detection of nuc, mecA and pvl genes in clinical isolates from 188 patients admitted to "Sf. Parascheva" Infectious Diseases Hospital Iasi, during a 3 year period (2008-2010). Results The study revealed a relatively high rate of PVL-producing strains (23.93%), mainly community-associated (CAMRSA) (51.11%). Most pvl-positive CA-MRSA isolates were resistant to erythromycin (91.3%), but none was resistant to clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, rifampicin, chloramphenicol or fusidic acid. Conclusions: Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed a high rate of multidugresistance among strains classified as CA-MRSA (54.83%), but not among PVL-producers (4.44%). Although resistance to fusidic acid was previously proposed as a marker for PVLproducing CA-MRSA, our data suggest that we cannot rely on resistance to fusidic acid to screen for PVL-producing CA-MRSA in our setting.