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Genome sequencing outlined MRSA transmission in resource-limited hospital
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Full genome sequencing could provide insight into the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in high transmission institutions with limited resources, according to recent data.
Researchers analyzed isolates from 51 symptomatic individuals (20 adult patients, 26 pediatric patients, five staff members) who tested positive for MRSA during a 3-month period at a hospital in northeast Thailand. Seventy-six isolates were sequenced, including up to two repeat isolates from participants who tested positive for MRSA in the initial screening.
“In under-resourced hospitals and clinics, formal screening procedures for MRSA are not in place,” Sharon J. Peacock, FRCP, PhD, of the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said in a press release. “Filling gaps in our understanding of how MRSA spreads in such settings is important, since this not only highlights the problem but also provides direction to interventions that tackle this and other hospital-based pathogens.”
Figure 1. A scanning electron micrograph of MRSA magnified 2381x..
Source:CDC/Jeff Hageman, MHS
All tested MRSA was identified as sequence type 239, but several distinct clades were circulating through both monitored ICUs at any point during the study period. Multiple new transmission events were observed, and an individual who was admitted carrying a unique MRSA clade that became the predominant carriage clade was found in each ICU.
“Studies such as this provide information to help inform policy,” Peacock said in the release. “It also highlights — in a concrete way — the importance of infection control including effective implementation of hand washing, which is the most effective way to control MRSA.”
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm financial disclosures at the time of publication.
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