Prevalence and mechanisms of macrolide resistance among Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates from neutropenic patients in Tunisia

ABSTRACTThe prevalence of macrolide–lincosamide–streptogramin (MLS) resistance phenotypes was determined among erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates collected at the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Tunisia during 2002. The erm(A), erm(B), erm(C), msrA, mefA and icaA genes were detected by PCR. The vga, vgb and vat genes were amplified from pristinamycin-resistant isolates. The icaA gene was detected in 76.5% of 34 isolates examined in detail. The erm(C) (53%) and erm(A) (32%) genes predominated because of clonal dissemination, followed by msrA (15%). Gene distribution was related to the methicillin resistance pattern. The vga gene was present in combination with erm(A) in three isolates.