Emergence in Asian countries of Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2004 Dec;48(12):4926-8. doi: 10.1128/AAC.48.12.4926-4928.2004.

Abstract

To investigate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains in Asian countries, a total of 1,357 clinical isolates of MRSA collected from 12 Asian countries were screened by using brain heart infusion agar plates containing 4 mg of vancomycin per liter. The presence of strains that were heterointermediately resistant to vancomycin (hVISA) was confirmed by population analysis. Of 347 (25.6%) MRSA isolates that grew on the screening agar plates, 58 isolates (4.3%) were hVISA. hVISA strains were found in India, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, neither vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus nor vancomycin-resistant S. aureus isolates were found among MRSA isolates from Asian countries in this survey.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Asia / epidemiology
  • Methicillin Resistance
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Population
  • Staphylococcal Infections / epidemiology
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects*
  • Vancomycin Resistance*