Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive Staphylococcus aureus in skin and soft tissue infections from primary care patients.

Abstract Objectives To characterise deep skin and soft tissue infections (dSSTI) caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin positive (PVL+) vs. PVL-negative (PVL-) Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients‘ records including S. aureus isolates from outpatients with dSSTI. Samples had been submitted by primary care physicians, i.e., general practitioners, surgeons, dermatologists and paediatricians, located in Berlin, Germany, in 2007-2017. Bacterial isolates were identified and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by VITEK 2; PVL was detected by PCR. Results In total, 1199 S. aureus isolates from 1074 patients with dSSTIs were identified, and 613/1199 samples (51.1%) were PVL+. The median age of patients with PVL+ S. aureus was lower than in patients with PVL- S. aureus (34, range 0-88 vs. 44, range 0-98 years; P Conclusions In outpatients, gluteal and axillary dSSTI are indicative of PVL+ S. aureus. The use of SXT as complementary treatment of dSSTI should be based on susceptibility testing.