Espinosa, F

Hopman, J

Klaassen, CH

Meis, JF

Peraza, G Toraño

Velázquez, DM

Voss, A

English

PubMed

J Hopman

G Peraza

F Espinosa

CH Klaassen

DM Velázquez

JF Meis

A Voss

Springer - Publisher Connector

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus without borders: USA300 in Cuba

POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
without borders: USA300 in Cuba
J Hopman1*, G Toraño Peraza2, F Espinosa3, CH Klaassen4, DM Velázquez2, JF Meis4, A Voss4
From International Conference on Prevention & Infection Control (ICPIC 2011)
Geneva, Switzerland. 29 June – 2 July 2011
Introduction / objectives
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an
increasing problem in the Americas and the Caribbean
including Cuba. Recently, MRSA isolates are emerging as
significant pathogens in the community. In the USA, the
most prevalent community associated (CA-)MRSA clone
is USA300 (ST8, spa type 008). Little is known about the
molecular epidemiology of MRSA in some of the Carib-
bean countries. In this study we aim to investigate the
molecular epidemiology of MRSA isolates from 4 major
Cuban hospitals.
Methods
During a 3 months period in 2008 all clinical isolates sus-
pected to be MRSA were prospectively collected. Three
major Cuban hospitals and the national reference centre
for infectious diseases participated in the study. Oxacillin
susceptibility testing was performed in Cuba. Further
examinations were done in the Netherlands, including
Panton-Valentine leukocidin(PVL), genes lukS-lukV,
mecA and Spa-typing.
Results
From the 56 suspected Staphylococcus isolates, 38 were
confirmed to be MRSA. Spa typing identified 5 different
spa-types. In decreasing frequency we found Spa-type
t149, t008, t037, t4088 and t2029, in respectively 22, 8, 6, 1
and 1 isolates. Only the eight t008 isolates were PVL
positive.
Conclusion
Here we report the first molecular typing results of MRSA
isolates from Cuba. The predominant clone was the Spa-
type 149, followed by CA-MRSA USA300. We conclude
that an economic and political embargo is a weak infection
control measurement to contain the spreading of a poten-
tially harmful pathogen.
Disclosure of interest
None declared.
Author details
1Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre,
Nijmegen, Netherlands. 2Bacteriology-Mycology, Pedro Kourí Institute,
Havana, Cuba. 3Microbiology, Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, Havana, Cuba.
4Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital,
Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Published: 29 June 2011
doi:10.1186/1753-6561-5-S6-P172
Cite this article as: Hopman et al.: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus without borders: USA300 in Cuba. BMC Proceedings 2011 5(Suppl
6):P172.
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1Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre,
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Hopman et al. BMC Proceedings 2011, 5(Suppl 6):P172
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1753-6561/5/S6/P172
© 2011 Hopman et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Hopman J

Peraza G

Espinosa F

Klaassen CH

Velázquez DM

Meis JF

Voss A

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Methicillin-resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it> without borders: USA300 in Cuba

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus without borders: USA300 in Cuba

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