methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) strains and the staphy lococcal cassette chromosome mec types in iran

background: staphylococcus aureus can cause infections with a wide spectrum of illnesses ranging from benign skin infections to bloodstream infection leading to mortality. antimicrobial resistance especially methicillin resistance in s. aureus (mrsa strains) is currently problematic. the emergence of mrsa infections has developed in both the healthcare and the community settings.  the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of mrsa and sccmec types in iran according to the previously published studies.     methods: for this review, the terms of mrsa, iran, methicillin, meca and sccmec types were searched in searching engines including google scholar, pubmed, sciverse, and scopus. data from veterinary sources were excluded. data were analyzed with graph pad prism 6 considering meta-analysis section. results: among several studies and approximately of 1810 results, the prevalence of mrsa was determined as approximately 56.5%. in the year of 2015 and 2016, results exhibited a higher prevalence of mrsa (62.2%) compared to 2013 and 2014, although not exceeded from 46% in healthy individuals. moreover, among the sccmec types, the sccmec type iii has been reported as the predominant type (60.48%) followed by type iv (21.2%), type i (17.72%), type ii (17.12%), and type v (0.56%).  conclusion: according to previous data, the prevalence of mrsa is increasing in iran. however, it may be different for each year depending on several reasons. moreover, the sccmec type iii is the predominant type in the country. the sccmec type iv has also emerged in ca-mrsa isolates.