Carriage of virulence factors and molecular characteristics ofStaphylococcus aureusisolates associated with bloodstream, and skin and soft tissue infections in children
SUMMARYWe investigated the virulence gene carriage and molecular type characteristics ofStaphylococcus aureusisolates from bloodstream infections (BSIs) and skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in children. A total of 71 isolates, 16 of which were methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA), were investigated by PCR for virulence-associated gene profiles, sequence type andspatype. This revealed that 76·7% and 53·7% of the SSTI and BSI isolates, respectively, exhibited simultaneous carriage of ⩾10 virulence genes. Compared to BSI isolates, carriage rates forhla,hlb,cna,clfA,seb,secandpvlgenes were significantly higher in SSTI isolates. By contrast, carriage ofeta,etbandseawas significantly higher for BSI isolates. Thirty-four sequence types (STs) and 36spatypes were identified in the 71 isolates and included 14 novel STs and four novelspatypes. ST59-MRSA-IV/V-t437 was the most common clone in the MRSA isolates. We concluded that virulence determinants are widely distributed in isolates ofS. aureusstrains from children with BSIs and SSTIs, with an unexpectedly high rate in SSTI isolates. Future profiling ofS. aureusvirulence determinants may allow the prediction of severity and outcome for children with these infections.