| BRIEF COMMUNICATION |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 33
| Issue : 5 | Page : 129-133 |
Molecular epidemiology of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus colonizing the anterior Nares of school children of Udupi Taluk
S Govindan1, AS Maroli2, AM Ciraj1, I Bairy1
1 Department of Microbiology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India
2 Research Assistant , Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Correspondence Address:
S Govindan
Department of Microbiology, Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal
India
 Source of Support: Part of this work was funded by Department of
Biotechnology, Govt. of India, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0255-0857.150919
Context: Community associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) cause serious skin and soft tissue infections including necrotizing fasciitis and necrotizing pneumonia. Production of Panton Valentine Leucocidine (PVL) toxin is implicated in its enhanced virulence. A variant of epidemic MRSA-15 (EMRSA-15) which produces PVL toxin has been isolated and characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method from the Indian population both in hospital and community settings. Aims: Identify the epidemiological type of MRSA colonizing the anterior nares of school children in Udupi taluk. Settings and Design: The study population included children of the age group of 5-16 years belonging to the Udupi taluk of Karnataka, India. A total of 1503 children were screened for MRSA colonization during July 2009 to December 2010. Materials and Methods: PVL assay, Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome (SCC) mec typing and PFGE typing were carried out with all the MRSA isolates. Statistical Analysis Used: Frequency distribution of different variables was assessed by SPSS. Results: Among the 1.1% of MRSA, 58.8% (10/17) of isolates were positive for pvl and 41.7% (7/17) were identified as SCC mec type IV. PFGE patterns of all the strains were identical with Indian variant EMRSA-15; however they were different from classical EMRSA-15 in 3-4 bands. Conclusions: The Indian variant EMRSA-15 gains much epidemiological relevance owing to the acquisition of pvl gene. In spite of low prevalence of nasal colonization of MRSA, emergence of the virulent Indian variant EMRSA-15 in our community is a worrisome fact to be reckoned with.
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