BACKGROUND Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus hominis (MRSHo) are important human pathogens in immunocompromised patients. However, little is known regarding its population structure and staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) content. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To assess the population structure and the SCCmec content of S. hominis, 34 MRSHo and 11 methicillin-susceptible S. h...

We investigated the nature of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) elements and cognate insertion sites in a collection of 42 clinical staphylococcal isolates of various species from Norway. The ccr and mec genes and the attachment sites (attL/attR) were identified by PCR, Southern blot hybridization, and DNA sequencing. We found 10 possibly new SCCmec types and one previously un...

A clinical trial of uncomplicated skin and skin structure infections (39 locations in 19 states) observed that community-associated or community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CO-MRSA) represented 23% of all pathogens at baseline culture and 53% of 190 S. aureus isolates. CO-MRSA strains typically were Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive (95%), contained staphylococca...

Data from a prospective, randomized, open-label, active-controlled, multicenter, Phase 4 study comparing oral or intravenous linezolid with intravenous vancomycin for treatment of complicated skin and soft-tissue infections caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was used to determine the association between staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type and patient’s clinic...

From 2006 to 2009, 315 clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were collected from 5 hospitals across Israel. Most isolates (64%) were related to the global clones spa types t001-SCCmec-I (SCCmec-I stands for staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type I) (n = 99; 31%), t002-SCCmec-II (n = 82; 26%), and t008-SCCmec-IV (n = 21; 7%), five of which were identified as M...

The aim of this study was to describe a case of necrotizing pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The sample was isolated from a blood culture collected less than 48 hours after hospital admission. The patient had been healthy until the infectious process started. The isolate had the mecA gene with "staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec" (SCCmec) type IVa. The possib...

This work aims to provide an insight into staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec elements and antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis. The dominating type was SCCmec – IV. Fifteen isolates were assigned to SCCmec type III, two isolates to SCCmec type II. Most isolates were resistant to at least three of the non-β-lactam antibiotics tested. None of the strains ex...