Small Anellovirus in Hepatitis C Patients and Healthy Controls

genotypes, it was slightly overrepresented in AFLP cluster IVb (CC 121) compared with major clusters I and III. Whether the prevalence of PVL in carriageand blood-culture isolates is higher and differs among distinct genetic clusters of S. aureus in countries with endemic CA-MRSA has to be investigated further. In conclusion, we have shown that the PVL-encoding phage has entered distinct staphylococcal lineages, although its prevalence differs per clonal group. PVL is associated with skin and soft tissue infections but not with bacteremia, which suggests that PVL is not likely to be involved in the pathogenesis of bacteremia. Infections caused by PVL-positive S. aureus strains have been documented since the 1930s. Expansion and increased incidence of such infections, however, are more recent, and further epidemiologic studies for tracking this phenomenon are still warranted.