Molecular characteristics and virulence genes of Staphylococcus aureus in bloodstream infection from children during 2016-2021 / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objectives:To study the molecular characteristics, virulence gene and resistance profiles of Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus, SA) isolates from bloodstream infections (BSI), so as to further understand the molecular characteristics of S. aureus in pediatric patients. Methods:A total of 53 S. aureus strains in bloodstream infections from Shanghai Children′s Hospital between 2016 and 2021 were collected. Antimicrobial susceptibility test were adopted by instrumental and disk diffusion method. Thirty-two kinds of virulence genes were detected by PCR and underwent multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), Staphylococcus protein A (spa) typing and staphylococcal chromosome cassette (staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec, SCCmec) typing characterizing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Statistical analysis was performed using χ 2 test or Fisher exact test. Results:MRSA isolates accounted for 50.94% of the total(27/53), with ST398-t034-SCCmecV (6/53, 11.32%) and ST59-t437-SCCmecIV (4/53, 7.55%) as the most common MRSA clones. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isolates occupied 49.06% (26/53), among which typing ST22-t309 (3/53, 5.66%) and ST7-t091/t1685 (2/53, 3.77% each) were prevalent. Of the 53 strains, all carried ≥6 virulence genes, 33 strains (62.26%) carried ≥10 virulence genes, including 18 strains of MSSA (69.23%) and 15 strains of MRSA (55.56%). The carriage rate of pvl gene in MSSA was higher than that of MRSA isolates (12/26, 33.33% vs. 6/27, 22.22%), and sasX was only detected in MRSA isolates (4/53, 7.55%). The resistant rates of BSI-SA isolates to penicillin, erythromycin and clindamycin were 98.11%, 49.06% and 41.51%, respectively. MRSA were more resistant to clinical antimicrobial agents than MSSA. Conclusions:MRSA strains cover a high proportion in S. aureus bloodstream infection of children, with ST398-t034 and ST59-t437 being the most common clones. The virulence gene carrying rate for BSI-SA was high with a greater pvl gene carrying rate in MSSA isolates while sasX was only detected in MRSA isolates. More clinical attention should be paid to the high resistance status and virulence genes characteristics of BSI-SA.