Prevalence of genes encoding extracellular virulence factors among meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the University Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic

1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palack University, Olomouc, Czech Republic 2 University Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic Correspondence P. Sauer pavel.sauer{at}email.cz Received 25 May 2007 Accepted 6 December 2007 A rather fast and complicated progression of an infection caused by some strains of Staphylococcus aureus could be associated with the expression and co-action of virulence factor complexes in these strains. This study screened the antibiotic susceptibility and prevalence of virulence markers in isolates of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) obtained from patients hospitalized at the University Hospital in Olomouc, Czech Republic. A total of 100 isolates was screened for 13 genes encoding extracellular virulence determinants ( tst , pvl , eta , etb , sea , seb , sec , sed , see , seg , seh , sei and sej ) and for their distribution in sample types. Eighty-nine isolates were positive for at least one of the genes. Genes for etb , pvl , see and seh were not detected in any of the MRSA isolates. No statistically significant differences in the occurrence of the determinants studied among sample types were found. Abbreviations: MRSA, meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; MSSA, meticillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus ; SSSS, staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome.