Molecular Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Chronic Infected Wounds in Rural Ghana.

Manuel Wolters,Holger Rohde,Charity Wiafe Akenten,Hagen Frickmann,Denise Dekker,Anna Both,Jürgen May,Martin Christner,Kwabena Oppong

doi:10.3390/microorganisms8122052

Abstract

Background: Globally, Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacterial pathogen causing a wide range of community and hospital acquired infections. In Ghana, resistance of S. aureus to locally available antibiotics is increasing but the molecular basis of resistance and the population structure of S. aureus in particular in chronic wounds are poorly described. However, this information is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms of resistance and spread of resistant clones. We therefore subjected 28 S. aureus isolates from chronic infected wounds in a rural area of Ghana to whole genome sequencing. Results: Overall, resistance of S. aureus to locally available antibiotics was high and 29% were Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The most abundant sequence type was ST88 (29%, 8/28) followed by ST152 (18%, 5/28). All ST88 carried the mecA gene, which was associated with this sequence type only. Chloramphenicol resistance gene fexB was exclusively associated with the methicillin-resistant ST88 strains. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) carriage was associated with ST121 and ST152. Other detected mechanisms of resistance included dfrG, conferring resistance to trimethoprim. Conclusions: This study provides valuable information for understanding the population structure and resistance mechanisms of S. aureus isolated from chronic wound infections in rural Ghana.

Highlights

Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacterial pathogen in all parts of the world, causing both community and hospital acquired infections
The identified MLST sequence types and selected associated resistance and virulence genes are summarized in Table 1; the complete MLST, virulence factor and resistance gene datasets (VFDB, Resfinder and NCBI AMR), as well as AST results are available in the supplemental material (Table S1) The most abundant sequence type was ST88 (8/28)
In this study we describe the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus isolated from chronic infected wounds in outpatients in a rural area of Ghana

Summary

Introduction

Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacterial pathogen in all parts of the world, causing both community and hospital acquired infections. Staphylococcus aureus is an important bacterial pathogen causing a wide range of community and hospital acquired infections. In Ghana, resistance of S. aureus to locally available antibiotics is increasing but the molecular basis of resistance and the population structure of S. aureus in particular in chronic wounds are poorly described. This information is essential to understand the underlying mechanisms of resistance and spread of resistant clones. Results: Overall, resistance of S. aureus to locally available antibiotics was high and 29% were Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Conclusions: This study provides valuable information for understanding the population structure and resistance mechanisms of S. aureus isolated from chronic wound infections in rural Ghana

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion