The First Report of t8463 and t605 spa Types in Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from ICUs in Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is the most important human pathogen, in community and hospital-acquired infections. The colonization rate of this organism is high in medical personnel and devices. Considering the importance of carriers in the transmission of S. aureus infection, this study investigated the origin of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolated from Velayat and Poursina Hospitals of Rasht. In eight months, 500 samples were obtained from hospitalized patients, personnel, different surfaces, air, and devices in the intensive care unit (ICU) departments of Velayat and Poursina Hospitals. After the identification of MRSA strains by microbiological and biochemical standard methods, the DNA of the isolates was extracted. The spa typing of MRSA strains was done after determining the sequence of amplified protein A genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers. Among 500 samples, 45 (9%) samples were infected with S. aureus and 31 (68.9%) MRSA strains were identified from different ICUs. For the first time, S. aureus was divided into three types with the help of the spa technique in the ICU of Rasht hospitals. Among the examined samples, the t14870 spa type prevailed (95.5%), which had been found in previous studies in different regions of Iran. However, two types, t8463 (2.2%) and t605 (2.2%), were obtained for the first time in Iran, which were MRSA and obtained from the noses of patients. High frequency of S. aureus isolates indicated in ICUs and personnel play a very effective role in the transmission of infection in the hospital, so need for infection control in the hospital is inevitable.