Prevalence Assessment of the mecC Gene Among MRSA Clinical Isolates in a Malaysian Teaching Hospital
Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) resistance is predominantly mediated by the mecA gene; a novel homologue, mecC, has emerged among livestock-associated MRSA, and to date no data exist on the prevalence of human mecC-MRSA in Malaysia. This retrospective cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of mecC gene carriage and characterise the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of 89 archived clinical MRSA isolates from 2023, using conventional PCR for gene detection and the VITEK 2 system for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. All isolates were mecA-positive, and none carried mecC. High resistance rates were observed against ciprofloxacin (89.9%, MIC90 ≥8 µg/mL), levofloxacin (88.8%, MIC90 ≥8 µg/mL), moxifloxacin (88.8%, MIC90 4 µg/mL), erythromycin (66.3%, MIC90 ≥8 µg/mL) and clindamycin (65.2%, MIC90 ≤0.25 µg/mL). All isolates remained susceptible to vancomycin (MIC90 1 µg/mL), linezolid (MIC90 2 µg/mL), quinupristin/dalfopristin (MIC90 ≤0.25 µg/mL), tigecycline (MIC90 0.25 µg/mL), nitrofurantoin (MIC90 32 µg/mL) and rifampicin (MIC90 ≤0.5 µg/mL). Susceptibility to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole and tetracycline was 95.5% (MIC90 ≤10 µg/mL and ≤1 µg/mL, respectively). One mecA-positive isolate was susceptible to oxacillin (MIC 0.5 µg/mL) and negative on cefoxitin screening, consistent with the oxacillin-susceptible MRSA (OS-MRSA) phenotype. This study confirms mecA as the sole methicillin-resistance determinant in this hospital; the absence of…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Ferulic acid regulates the AKT/GSK-3β/CRMP-2 signaling pathway in a middle cerebral artery occlusion animal model
- Novel Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Parameters Quantify the Exposure–Effect Relationship of Levofloxacin against Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Escherichia coli
- Photochemical behavior of levofloxacin
- Correlation Between Dissolution Profiles of Salt-Form Drugs in Biorelevant Bicarbonate Buffer and Oral Drug Absorption: Importance of Dose/ Fluid Volume Ratio
- Evaluation of the synergistic potential and mechanisms of action for de novo designed cationic antimicrobial peptides
- Synthesis of [11C]levofloxacin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.