INFECTIONS CAUSED BY COMMUNITY-ASSOCIATED METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS EUROPEAN CLONE (ST80) IN SLOVENIA BETWEEN 2006 AND 2013

Introduction. According to the existing literature, a heterogeneous sequence type (ST) or clones of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) circulate in Europe. In Europe, the European clone that belongs to sequence type ST80 is predominant. Methods. The aim of the study was to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics and epidemiological data of CA-MRSA ST80 and its occurrence in Slovenia. We retrospectively analyzed those CA-MRSA isolates that were isolated during microbiological procedures in microbiological laboratories between 2006 and 2013. Only CA-MRSA isolates from the national collection of CA-MRSA strains that belonged to ST80 (European clone) were analyzed. We determined the Pantone-Valentine leukocidin (PVL), mecA genes, exfoliative toxin genes and type of staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCCmec) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We determined also spa type and sequence type. Results. ST80 was confirmed in only 2 (0.5%) out of 385 CA-MRSA isolates, collected in a national collection of CA-MRSA. Both isolates were positive for the PVL genes, mecA gene, exfoliative toxin type D gene and SCCmec IV. One CA-MRSA isolate was confirmed in a wound swab taken from a 47-year-old male, and the second was isolated from blood cultures of a 69-year-old female. No epidemiological connections between them were found. Conclusions. In Slovenia CA-MRSA infections caused by ST80 are rare. In the future, it is necessary that a surveillance study of CA-MRSA at the national level continues and CA-MRSA be considered as a public health threat.