Abstract
The first study on the molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) isolates from Colombia was performed as part of a global surveillance established by the CEM/NET
Initiative, under Project RESIST. Seventy-six MRSA isolates recovered from five hospitals during 1996-1998 were analyzed by the hybridization of
Cla
I restriction digests with
mecA-
and Tn
554
-specific
probes, and by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of chromosomal
Sma
I digests. All MRSA isolates, with one exception, belonged to a single clonal type II::NH::D. This clone, which was previously
described among MRSA isolates recovered in the early 1990s in European and New York and South American hospitals, showed resistance to β-lactam antibiotics only and appeared to be associated almost
exclusively with pediatric infections ("Pediatric clone" of MRSA). While sharing identical molecular typing properties with the Pediatric clone, the Colombian isolates differed by extensive multidrug resistance
and were recovered from patients of all ages. It is also noteworthy that the Brazilian clone of MRSA (XI::B::B), another multidrug-resistant international clone currently widely spread in Brazil, Argentina,
Uruguay, Chile, and also in several European countries, was completely absent from this set of isolates from Colombia.