Genotypic characterization of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1-producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated in the Czech Republic

Genotyping based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), PCR ribotyping, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus motif (ERIC2)-PCR, and prophage content analysis was carried out in 45 toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1)-positive Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in 19 cities of the Czech Republic between 1986 and 2004. Twenty-four wild-type TSST-1-positive isolates of which 18 strains were the causative agents of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) had the same genotype profiles as the type strain FRI 1169 and were classified into genotype T1. The remaining 21 strains of which 12 caused TSS were distinct from one another and differed from the T1 strains mainly in PFGE pattern and also in one or more other genetic characteristics. While the strains of genotype T1 are most prevalent in the Czech population and account for the majority of TSS cases, TSS-related S. aureus strains of different genotypes were also found and cannot be excluded as the causative agents of TSS cases in this country.