Adult methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in Taiwan: clinical significance of non–multi-resistant antibiogram and Panton–Valentine leukocidin gene

It is poorly defined whether or not adult patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia with a non–multi-resistant antibiogram phenotype and Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene carriage have different clinical syndromes. Clinical characteristics of 95 adult patients of MRSA bacteremia, with isolates that were non–multi-resistant to non–β-lactam, were compared with a contemporaneous multiresistant group. Independent risk factors other than community-associated MRSA bacteremia patients associated with recovery of non–multi-resistant MRSA isolates by multivariate analysis included deep-seated infection and catheter insertion site infection. Older age, intensive care unit-onset bacteremia, and postoperative infection were negative independent risk factors associated with non–multi-resistant MRSA isolates. Most of the 60 recoverable non–multi-resistant MRSA isolates belonged to multilocus sequence type 59, and all isolates belonged to staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) element type IV or type V. Most PVL-positive MRSA isolates belonged to SCCmec V. PVL-positive CA-MRSA isolates could cause more deep-seated infections in patients presented with non–multi-resistant MRSA bacteremia.