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Case Reports
. 2020 Dec;39(12):2461-2465.
doi: 10.1007/s10096-020-03950-4. Epub 2020 Jun 23.

Human infections caused by Staphylococcus argenteus in Germany: genetic characterisation and clinical implications of novel species designation

Farah Alhussein  1 , Judith Fürstenberg  1 , Rosmarie Gaupp  1 , Janina Eisenbeis  1 , Katharina Last  1 , Sören L Becker  1 , Cihan Papan  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Human infections caused by Staphylococcus argenteus in Germany: genetic characterisation and clinical implications of novel species designation

Farah Alhussein et al. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

We report a series of Staphylococcus argenteus infections from Saarland, Germany. Travel histories were unremarkable for extra-European sojourns, indicating an autochthonous transmission mode. Multilocus sequence typing revealed that all isolates were members of the clonal complex CC2250. In only one case, guideline-adherent treatment with an isoxazolyl penicillin was prescribed. Our report illustrates the perils of novel species designations, which may lead to misconceptions and suboptimal treatment choices among clinicians.

Keywords: Emerging pathogen; Multilocus sequence typing; Novel species; Staphylococcus argenteus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Colonies of Staphylococcus argenteus after 24 h of incubation at 35 °C, on blood agar (a) and chocolate agar (b), in comparison to Staphylococcus aureus, on blood (c) and chocolate agar (d)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts