Abstract
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a worldwide problem. Ready-to-eat (RTE) food which does not need thermal processing before consumption could be a vehicle for the spread of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The present study evaluated the molecular genetic characteristics (RAPD) and pheno- and genotypical antimicrobial resistance profile of S. aureus isolated from 75 RTE food samples (sushi, hamburgers, salads). All of the isolates (n=32) were resistant to at least one class of antibiotic tested of which 75% strains were classified as multidrug resistant. Most of the isolates were resistant to cefoxitin (87,5%) followed by clindamycin (78,1%), tigecycline and quinupristin/dalfopristin (53,1%). All methicillin resistant staphylococci harbored mecA gene. Among tetracycline resistance isolates all of them harbored at least one gene: tet(M), tet(L) and/or tet(K) and 78,9% of them were positive for the Tn916/Tn1545-like integrase family gene. Our results indicated that retail RTE food could be considered an important route for transmission of antibiotic resistant staphylococci harboring multiple antibiotic resistance genes.
Highlights
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading etiologic agents of hospital infections (Le Loir et al, 2003)
The present study evaluated the molecular genetic characteristics (RAPD) and pheno- and genotypical antimicrobial resistance profile of 32 S. aureus strains isolated from 75 RTE food samples (Figure 1)
In our previous study we have examined 858 samples of RTE food on which 6% of isolated strains were positive for mecA (35 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 17 MR-CoNS strains) (Chajęcka-Wierzchowska et al, 2014)
Summary
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading etiologic agents of hospital infections (Le Loir et al, 2003). It is known to cause a number of pathological conditions in humans and animals like bacteremia, urinary system infections, systemic diseases, osteomyelitis (Lina et al, 1999; Hageman et al, 2006). Toxins produced by S. aureus are one of the most frequent causes of bacterial food poisonings (Hennekinne et al, 2012). Foodstuff contamination may result from poor hygiene during production processes or the retail and storage of food. The pathogenic nature of S. aureus is related to the high genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity of its strains. This results mainly from the abilities of staphylococci to exchange genetic material through mobile genetic elements
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