Panton-Valentine leucocidin gene carriage among Staphylococcus aureus strains recovered from skin and soft tissue infections in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES Regardless of methicillin resistance, Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-positive Staphylococcus aureus isolates are associated with various types of infections and outbreaks. Limited data exist about the PVL content of S. aureus strains in Turkey. In this multicentre study, we aimed to assess the PVL positivity and antimicrobial susceptibilities of S. aureus isolates recovered from skin and soft tissue samples of both community and nosocomial origin in the study period, 2007-08. METHODS Two hundred and forty-two [92 community-acquired (CA) and 150 hospital-acquired (HA)] isolates were included in the study. Analysis of mecA and PVL was carried out using PCR. All isolates underwent susceptibility testing according to the CLSI. RESULTS Out of 242 isolates, 77 were mecA positive. PVL was not found among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates, but 8 (5.3%) HA methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and 14 (15.2%) CA-MSSA, mostly isolated from furuncles (71.4%), were positive for PVL. Among PVL-positive strains, the penicillin resistance rate was 90.9%. Low resistance rates, <10%, were detected for erythromycin, fusidic acid and co-trimoxazole. PVL-positive strains showed higher rates of susceptibility to erythromycin, gentamicin and rifampicin than negative isolates. CONCLUSIONS Based on the findings of this study, infection related to PVL-carrying CA-MRSA is not at an alarmingly high level, but population-based surveillance studies should be done to determine the real status.