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. 1998 Sep;36(9):2590-6.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.36.9.2590-2596.1998.

Intercontinental spread of a multidrug-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone

M Aires de Sousa  1 , I S Sanches, M L Ferro, M J Vaz, Z Saraiva, T Tendeiro, J Serra, H de Lencastre
Affiliations

Intercontinental spread of a multidrug-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clone

M Aires de Sousa et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1998 Sep.

Abstract

Two hundred ten methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates recovered between 1990 and 1997 from three Portuguese hospitals located in Lisbon and Oporto were analyzed by molecular fingerprinting techniques. The hybridization of ClaI restriction digests with the mecA- and Tn554-specific DNA probes combined with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis documented the abrupt appearance and extensive intrahospital spread of the Brazilian epidemic MRSA clone in the 1995 samples of each one of the three hospitals analyzed-suggesting the intercontinental transfer of this strain from Brazil to Portugal. The appearance of this clone may challenge the dominance of another highly epidemic imported clone-the Iberian MRSA, currently the most widely spread MRSA clone in Portuguese hospitals.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
ClaI-mecA hybridization profiles of some isolates belonging to the Brazilian clone. Chromosomal DNAs digested with ClaI were separated by conventional gel electrophoresis, transferred to a nylon membrane, and hybridized with a mecA DNA probe. Lanes MW, 1-kb ladder (BRL); lane 1, strain from Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (HU25; genuine representative of the Brazilian clone [21]); lanes 2 to 4, control strains (RN7164, type III [6], PER168, type IX [5], and PER222, type XI [5]); lane 5, strain from Hospital de São João (FFP200, type XI); lane 6, strain from HSJ (HSJ7, type XI); lane 7, strain from IPO (IPO118, type XI). Numbers at right show molecular size in kilobases.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
PFGE of SmaI macrorestriction fragments of MRSA clinical isolates. Lanes 1 and 12, molecular size standards (lambda oligomers); lanes 2 and 13, NCTC8325; lanes 3 to 7, representatives of the Iberian clone; lane 3, strain from Hospital de Bellvitge Princeps d’Espanya, Barcelona, Spain (PER34; genuine representative of the Iberian clone; PFGE type A [5]); lane 4, strain from Hospital Pulido Valente, Lisbon, Portugal (HPV107, PFGE type A7 [17]); lane 5, strain from Hospital de São João (FFP202, PFGE type A1); lane 6, strain from HSJ (HSJ18, PFGE type A2); lane 7, strain from IPO (IPO116, PFGE type A1); lanes 8 to 11, representatives of the Brazilian clone; lane 8, strain from Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (HU25; genuine representative of the Brazilian clone [21]); lane 9, strain from Hospital de São João (FFP200, PFGE type B1); lane 10, strain from HSJ (HSJ7, PFGE type B1); lane 11, strain from IPO (IPO118, PFGE type B1). Numbers at left show molecular size in kilobases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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