Genotype, Coagulase Type and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Dermatology Patients and Healthy Individuals in Korea

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most prevalent dermatology pathogens in hospitals and increasingly recognized in communities. We determined PFGE pattern of SmaI-restricted genomic DNA, coagulase type, and antimicrobial susceptibility of MRSA isolated in 2008 from dermatology inpatients and healthy hospital employees in A Hospital and from primary school children in Iksan city, Korea. Overall, the isolation rate of MRSA was 3.8% from the 788 normal persons: 4.9% from hospital employees and 1.1% from primary school children. MRSA was isolated in six of 13 (46.2%) family members of four school children with MRSA. The most prevalent coagulase serotype was II from patients and V from healthy individuals. Ten of twenty and six of twenty MRSA isolates from patients and from healthy personnel, respectively, had identical PFGE patterns, suggesting that these are originated from identical clones. Against MRSA from patients, only vancomycin was the most active (MIC range or =90% to amikacin, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, fusidic acid, gentamicin and tetracycline. In conclusion, the MRSA carriage rates of healthy hospital workers were relatively high, 2.3~7.7%, depending on groups. Family members of a few primary school children with MRSA showed a high carriage rate, suggesting that intrafamily transmission occurred. MRSAs isolated from dermatology inpatients were relatively more resistant to various antimicrobial agents, including mupirocin, but all isolates were susceptibility to vancomycin.

Cytolethal Distending Toxin Production, Genotypes and Atimicrobial Susceptibility of Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from Diarrhea Patients and Chickens

Campylobacter jejuni isolates from diarrhea patients and chickens in 2008 in Iksan, Korea were tested for biochemical characteristics, and for possession of genes hipO, mutated gyrA, and cdtB. Among the chickens tested 52% carried C. jejuni. All 28 patient isolates and 48 chickens isolates had typical biochemical characteristics, except for nalidixic acid resistance. All isolates from patients and chickens were resistant to ciprofloxacin, and had mutated gyrA gene indicating good correlation of the two tests. Analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern of SmaI-restricted DNA of 53 isolates showed 14 clusters. Twenty-eight patient isolates and two chicken isolates (57%) showed an identical pattern (cluster 9). Chicken isolates C37 and C48 (cluster 2), C31 and C33 (cluster 3), C29, C34, C35, and C36 (cluster 4), and C43, C44 (cluster 6) had identical patterns. All patient isolates, compared to 87% and 80% of chicken isolates, were susceptible to amikacin and chloramphenicol, respectively. Antibiotics with the lowest MIC90 were imipenem, gentamicin, and erythromycin, whereas, those with the highest were ampicillin and tetracycline. In conclusion, C. jejuni carriage rate of chickens in Iksan, Korea, was high, all 28 isolates from patients and two from chickens were an identical clone, whereas isolates from patients and remaining chickens were different clones with only 62% similarity, all isolates had hipO and cdtB genes, and all isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin.