Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-01T00:04:22.870Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changing Pattern of Antibiotic Resistance in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus From German Hospitals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Wolfgang Witte ,
Christine Braulke ,
Christa Cuny ,
Dagmar Heuck  and
Michael Kresken
Wolfgang Witte*
Affiliation:
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany
Christine Braulke
Affiliation:
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany
Christa Cuny
Affiliation:
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany
Dagmar Heuck
Affiliation:
Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode, Germany
Michael Kresken
Affiliation:
Antiinfectives Intelligence, Gesellschaft für Klinisch-mikrobiologische Forschung und Kommunikation mbH, Bonn, Germany
*
Robert Koch Institute, Bereich Wernigerode, Postfach, D-38843 Wernigerode, Germany
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the background of changes of resistance phenotypes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from nosocomial infections in German hospitals by molecular typing and identification of particular resistance genes.

Methods:

Isolates from the network for monitoring the spread of MRSA in Germany were subjected to quantitative susceptibility testing, to molecular typing, and to polymerase chain reaction identification of resistance genes.

Participants:

The network consists of 175 German clinical microbiological laboratories collaborating with the German Reference Center for Staphylococci, which performs typing of staphylococcal isolates from nosocomial infections and data analysis.

Results:

During the past 5 years, MRSA susceptible to other antibiotics such as oxytetracycline, erythromycin, and gentamicin became more frequent. The proportion of epidemic MRSA clones that had been disseminated in the past and that exhibited broad resistance phenotypes decreased, whereas the proportion of recently emerging MRSA carrying only a few other resistance determinants has increased (1994, 11.5%; 1998, 39%).

Conclusions:

The changing pattern of resistance phenotypes of MRSA from nosocomial infections in Germany is mainly due to the spread of recently emerging epidemic strains that are less frequently resistant to antibacterials other than oxacillin. The observed changes cannot simply be attributed to overall antibiotic consumption.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 22 , Issue 11 , November 2001 , pp. 683 - 686
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Witte, W. Antibiotic resistance in gram-positive bacteria: epidemiological aspects. J Antimicrob Chemother l999;44(suppl A):1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Lacey, RW. Antibiotic resistance plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus and their clinical importance. Bacteriol Rev 1975;39:1–32.Google Scholar
3.Speller, DC, Stephens, M, Ragunath, D, Viant, AC, Reeves, D, Broughall, JI, et al.Epidemic infection by a gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in three hospitals. Lancet 1976;1:464–466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Witte, W, Kresken, M, Braulke, C, Cuny, C. Increasing incidence and widespread dissemination of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals in central Europe, with special reference to German hospitals. Clin Microbiol Infect 1997;3:414–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Witte, W, Cuny, C, Halle, E, Wagner, J. Methicillin resistance in an epidemic Staphylococcus aureus strain with genomic fingerprints corresponding to those of a sensitive strain in the community. Med Microbiol Lett 1994;3:388–395.Google Scholar
6.Windmeier, C, Cuny, C, Braulke, C, Heuck, D, Witte, W. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus exhibiting genomic fingerprints of phage group 1 strains in a hospital and in a nurse's family. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 1999;18:156–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Witte, W, Enright, M, Schmitz, FJ, Cuny, C, Braulke, C, Heuck, D. Characteristics of a new epidemic MRSA in Germany ancestral to United Kingdom EMRSA 15. Int J Med Microbiol 2001;290:677–682.Google Scholar
8.Blair, JE, Williams, REO. Phage typing of staphylococci. Bull World Health Organ 1961;24:771–803.Google Scholar
9.National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Approved standard. NCCLS document M100-S6/M7-A3. Methods for Dilution Susceptibility Tests for Bacteria That Grow Aerobically. 3rd ed. Wayne, PA: NCCLS; 1995.Google Scholar
10.Claus, H, Cuny, C, Pasemann, B, Witte, W. A database system for fragment patterns of genomic DNA of Staphylococcus aureus. Zentralb Bakteriol 1998;287:105–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Gaynes, R, Monnet, D. The contribution of antibiotic use on the frequency of antibiotic resistance in hospital. In: Antibiotic Resistance: Origins, Evolution, Selection, and Spread. Chichester, NY: John Wiley & Sons; 1997:47–55.Google Scholar
12.Kresken, M, Hafner, D, Witte, W, Reinert, RR. Resistenzentwicklung bei grampositiven Erregern gegeniiber Chemotherapeutika im mitteleu-ropäischen Raum. Chemotherapie Journal 1999;8:136–145.Google Scholar
13.Lelievré, H, Lina, G, Jones, ME, Olive, C, Forey, F, Roussel-Delvallez, M, et al.Emergence and spread in French hospitals of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with increasing susceptibility to gentamicin and other antibiotics. J Clin Microbiol 1999;37:3452–3457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Salmenlinna, S, Sisen, K, Sisen, E, Scotford, S, Voupio-Varkila, J. Epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus resistant to β-lactam antibiotics only. Ninth International Symposium on Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infection; Kolding, Denmark; June 14-17, 2000. Abstract 116.Google Scholar
15.Torvaldsen, V, Roberts, C, Riley, T. The continuing evolution of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Western Australia. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1999;20:133–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed