Won keun Song, Chang Hee Oh*, Seung Joo Kim**, Tae Jae Lee, Min-Jeong Park, Dong Hoon Shin, Sung Ha Kang, and Kyu Man Lee
Departments of Clinical Pathology, Pediatrics*, and Infection Control Office**, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Corresponding to Won keun Song, E-mail: swonkeun@hallym.or.kr
Ann Clin Microbiol 2002;5(1):21-25.
Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.
Background: Six babies infected with Staphylococcus aureus occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) over a period of 2 months, which was successfully controlled with the aid of molecular typing of the isolates.
Methods: We examined the staphylococcal toxins, mecA and tst gene PCR, and repetitive-element PCR (rep-PCR) typing in S. aureus isolated from the clinical specimens of infected babies, nasal swabs of the patients and medical personnels in a NICU, and environmental equipments.
Results: Among all S. aureus isolates tested, they were toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1)producing methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) who have mecA and tst gene, and one identical repPCR pattern all, except 3 MRSA isolated from the nasal swabs of 2 non-infected patients and 1 medical personnel.
Conclusions: It was demonstrated that TSST-1 producing MRSA became epidemic in the NICU as a result of the spread of a single clone. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2002;5(1):21-25)
Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Neonatal intensive care unit, Repetitive-element PCR
