Emergence of the community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300 clone in a Japanese child, demonstrating multiple divergent strains in Japan

• Published in: Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy 2010, Vol.16 (4), p.292-297
• Main Authors: Higuchi, Wataru, Takano, Tomomi, Iwao, Yasuhisa, Yabe, Shizuka, Razvina, Olga, Nishiyama, Akihito, Yamamoto, Tatsuo, Mimura, Shigenao, Kurosawa, Yoshihiro, Ikeda-Dantsuji, Yurika, Sakai, Fuminori, Hanaki, Hideaki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME); Bacteremia - microbiology; Bacterial Toxins - genetics; Cellulitis - microbiology; Child; Communicable Diseases, Emerging - microbiology; Community-Acquired Infections - microbiology; Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA); Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; Exotoxins - genetics; Female; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Humans; Infant; Infectious Diseases; Japan; Leukocidins - genetics; Medical Microbiology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - isolation & purification; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL); Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus; Thigh - microbiology; Virology; Virulence Factors - genetics
• ISSN: 1341-321X; 1437-7780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10156-010-0051-Y

Abstract In 2008 we isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from an 11-month-old Japanese girl who lived in Saitama, Japan, and suffered from cellulitis of the lower thigh and sepsis. The MRSA (strain NN47) belonged to multilocus sequence type (ST) 8 and exhibited spa 363 (t024), agr 1, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCC mec ) type IVa, and coagulase type III. It was positive for Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and the arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) demonstrated that the MRSA was the USA300 clone, which is the predominant community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) in the US. Strain NN47 was divergent, in terms of the spa type and patterns of PFGE and plasmids, from the USA300-0114 type strain or USA300 strain NN36, previously isolated from a visitor (Indian girl) from the US. Strain NN47 was resistant to erythromycin, in addition to β-lactam agents (e.g., oxacillin). These data demonstrate the first emergence of the USA300 clone in Japanese children who have never been abroad and have had no contact with foreigners (and therefore, the first USA300 spread in Japan), and also emergence of multiple divergent strains of the USA300 clone in Japan. Because the USA300 clone is highly transmissible and virulent, surveillance of the USA300 clone is needed.