ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Staphylococcus aureus is an important agent in hospital and community-associated infections, causing high morbidity and mortality. Introduction of the new antimicrobial classes for this pathogen has been usually followed by the emergence of resistant strains through multiple mechanisms. For instance, resistance to clindamycin (CLI)can be constitutive or inducible. Inducible clindamycin resistance which may lead to treatment failure can simply be identified by performing D-test. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance among Staphylococcus aureus isolates by D-test method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 211 non-duplicated S. aureus isolates in Imam Reza hospital of Mashhad during 2010. Susceptibility to oxacillin, cefoxitin, erythromycin and clindamycin was performed by agar disk diffusion method according to CLSI guidelines and D-shaped clindamycin susceptibility patterns where considered as D-test positive (D(+)). RESULTS: Of 211 S. aureus isolates,88 (41.7%) were methicillin resistant. It was found that of 88 MRSA isolates, 78 (88.6%) were erythromycin (ERY) resistant and 46 (52.3%) were CLI resistant. ERY and CLI resistance in MSSA strains was 22% and 10.6% respectively. Inducible clindamycin resistance was detected in 18 (20.5%) MRSA isolates. 47(53.4%) of MRSA isolates and 9 (7.3%) of MSSA showed constitutive MLS(B) phenotype. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we found a high prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance phenotype in our region. We recommend that whenever clindamycin is intended to be used for S. aureus infections, D-test should be performed to facilitate the appropriate treatment of patients.
ABSTRACT
We applied pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after SmaI digestion and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis with nine oligonucleotide primers to 146 blood culture isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis and 25 blood culture isolates of Staphylococcus haemolyticus. These were obtained over a 12-month period from patients on the neonatal and hematology units of the Central Manchester Health Care Trust. PFGE demonstrated two clusters of isolates of S. epidermidis (type A and type B) on the neonatal ward and a single cluster (type C) on the hematology unit. Type A was represented by 10 indistinguishable isolates from nine patients, type B was represented by 20 isolates from 14 patients, and type C was represented by 26 isolates from 10 patients. Type A isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol and type C isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, mirroring current antibiotic usage. There was no evidence of cross infection due to S. haemolyticus. RAPD analysis, on the basis of a single band difference, produced 58 types of S. epidermidis and 12 types of S. haemolyticus with primer 8 (ATG TAA GCT CCT GGG GAT TCA C; 5' to 3') and 54 types of S. epidermidis and 10 types of S. haemolyticus with primer 9 (AAG TAA GTG ACT GGG GTG AGC G; 5' to 3'). Combining the results confirmed cross infection. Types A, B, and C were concurrently isolated from the hands of the staff of the appropriate unit. Partial control was achieved by withdrawing ciprofloxacin use in the case of the hematology unit and improving hand hygiene in both units.
