Continued expansion of USA300-like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among hospitalized patients in the United States

- USA300-like MRSA strains continue to displace USA100-like MRSA in the United States.
- This clonal shift is reflected by changes in antimicrobial resistance patterns.
- An increase in low-level mupirocin resistance in USA100 isolates was noted.

We characterized spa types, SCCmec types, and antimicrobial resistance patterns of 516 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates, collected between 2011 and 2014 from nares and blood cultures of United States patients. Among nares isolates, 45 spa types were observed; 29.9% were t002/SCCmec II and 30.9% were t008/SCCmec IV. Among blood isolates, 40 spa types were identified; 24.4% were t002/SCCmec II and 39.9% were type t008/SCCmec IV. Compared to data from our 2009-2010 survey, the percentage of t008/SCCmec IV isolates from nares increased significantly (20.4%-30.9%; P = 0.004) while the percentage from positive blood cultures remained similar (39.2% versus 39.9%; P = 0.921). There were also significant changes in the overall antimicrobial resistance patterns observed, including the decrease of the clindamycin, erythromycin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin multidrug resistance pattern, likely the result of t002/SCCmec II strains being displaced by t008/SCCmec IV strains. Rates of high-level mupirocin resistance did not change significantly from our past study (4.1% compared to 4.7%; P = 0.758) but an increase in low-level resistance, particularly among t002/SCCmec II isolates, was observed.