Premium
Panton–Valentine leukocidin‐positive methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in children with cancer
Author(s) -
Srinivasan Ashok,
Seifried Steven,
Zhu Liang,
Srivastava Deo K.,
Flynn Patricia M.,
Shenep Jerry L.,
Bankowski Matthew J.,
Hayden Randall T.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
pediatric blood and cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.116
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1545-5017
pISSN - 1545-5009
DOI - 10.1002/pbc.22254
Subject(s) - medicine , panton–valentine leukocidin , leukocidin , staphylococcus aureus , typing , bacteremia , genotype , microbiology and biotechnology , methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus , ciprofloxacin , epidemiology , antibiotics , gene , biology , bacteria , genetics
Background New strains of methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which frequently carry the Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes have been recognized to cause invasive infections in otherwise healthy children and adults. However, the epidemiology of PVL‐positive MRSA infections has not been described in children or adults with cancer. Procedure The epidemiology of MRSA infections in patients with cancer was retrospectively studied from 2000 to 2007. Molecular typing was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of the PVL genes. Staphylococcus cassette chromosome (SCC) mec and spa typing was performed on all PVL‐positive isolates. Results A total of 88 MRSA isolates from clinically distinct infectious episodes were collected from 88 patients with cancer during the 8‐year study period. Infections were predominant in the skin and soft tissues (SSTI; P = 0.0003). PVL‐positive isolates, bearing the type IV SCC mec element, encoding the gene for methicillin resistance, increased significantly during this period ( P = 0.043) and comprised 35 of 88 (40%) MRSA isolates. Of these 35 isolates, 32 belonged to spa type 8 and were USA300 genotype. Patients infected with PVL‐positive strains did not have more SSTI ( P = 0.166) or bacteremia ( P = 0.510) as compared to patients with PVL‐negative strains. A greater percentage of PVL‐positive isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin ( P = 0.006). Conclusions PVL‐positive MRSA infections are not associated with a higher morbidity as compared to PVL‐negative MRSA infections in children with cancer. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009; 53:1216–1220. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.