High prevalence of spa type t790, coa type III and the emergence of spa types t309, t571 and t127 in community-acquired methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolated from wound, Tehran-Iran

Abstract A significant rise in the prevalence of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains associated with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) has been reported worldwide. There have been few studies focused on this concern. In the present study, 70 community-acquired (CA)-MSSA strains recovered from wound investigated by the phenotypic resistance pattern, staphylocoagulase (SC) typing and S. aureus protein A locus (spa) typing. The MSSA strains consisted of 8 spa types and 3 clonal complexes. CC22/t790, CC22/t005, CC398/t571, CC8/t030, CC8/t037, CC8/t008, CC22/t309, and CC1/t127 were the main MSSA spa types which accounted for 44.3%, 11.4%, 11.4%, 10%, 8.6%, 7.1%, 4.3%, and 2.9% respectively. Coagulase type III was the most prevalent type (47.2%). All tst -positive isolates (14.3%) belonged to CC22/t790. The pvl gene was present in 51.4% of all MSSA strains belonged to CC8/t008 (11.4), CC22 (40%). Out of four strains with intermediate resistance to vancomycin, two isolates belonged to CC22/t790 and two isolates to CC8/t030 while vancomycin-resistant S. aureus strain observed in CC22/t790. Our findings indicated low heterogeneity of MSSA strains. Circulation of the CC22 CA-MSSA strains highlighted the possibility of transmission of this type between from community to hospital.