1. Epidemiology, evolution and cryptic susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in China: a whole-genome-based survey
- Author
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Yunsong Yu, Feiteng Zhu, Zhengan Wang, Peng Lan, Qiucheng Shi, Keren Shi, Haiping Wang, Shujuan Ji, Yan Chen, Xiaoliang Ba, Shengnan Jiang, Mark A. Holmes, Yiyi Chen, Yan Jiang, Hemu Zhuang, and Lu Sun
- Subjects
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ,0301 basic medicine ,Microbiology (medical) ,China ,Staphylococcus aureus ,medicine.drug_class ,Lineage (evolution) ,030106 microbiology ,Antibiotics ,Microbial Sensitivity Tests ,Penicillins ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Microbiology ,Evolution, Molecular ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Antibiotic resistance ,Clavulanic acid ,Genotype ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Phylogeny ,General Medicine ,Staphylococcal Infections ,Amoxicillin ,Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Penicillin ,Infectious Diseases ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the genomic epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in China to identify predominant lineages and their associations with clinical data and antimicrobial resistance profiles. Methods We performed a national prevalence study of patients with S. aureus infections in 22 tertiary hospitals in China from 2015 to 2017. Clinical data from patients and the antimicrobial phenotypes were collected for each isolate. Genome sequencing was performed on a proportion of isolates and a phylogenetic analysis was undertaken. Genotypic and phenotypic β-lactam susceptibilities were compared. Results A total of 1900 patients with S. aureus infections were included, of which 40% involved MRSA. Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections were 24% of the total isolates. Genomic data showed that more than three-quarters of the MRSA were from three dominant lineages CC239 (25%, 116/471), CC5 (21%, 96/471) and CC59 (33%, 154/471) with CC59 accounting for more than half of the CA-MRSA isolates. Penicillin susceptibility genomic features were observed in 53% (251/470) of MRSA, including almost all of the CC59 (152/154) lineage, and 96% (242/251) of these isolates demonstrated in vitro susceptibility to penicillin or amoxicillin combined with clavulanic acid. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the CC59 lineage can be divided into six lineages with all Asian CC59 isolates likely arising from an ancestral Mainland China lineage. Conclusions This study showed a high prevalence of CA-MRSA in China, largely due to the widespread presence of CC59. As almost all isolates in this lineage possess genetic variants leading to increased β-lactam susceptibility, we suggest that to improve antibiotic stewardship combinations of penicillins and β-lactamase inhibitors should be included in the antibiotic susceptibility testing panels used to inform treatment decisions and research undertaken on this combination therapy.
- Published
- 2022