• Title: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates carrying staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec in urinary tract infection from Iran
  • samira saedi ,1,* Safoura Derakhshan,2 Mohsen Hemmati-Dinarvand,3
    1. Department of Microbiology, Parasitology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil , Iran
    2. Liver and Digestive Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj,
    3. Department of clinical biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Shiraz university of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran


  • Introduction: During the last decades, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have emerged as important causes of infections including urinary tract infection (UTI). The aims of this study were to determine antibiotic susceptibility of S. aureus isolated from patients with the symptoms of UTI and to detect the presence of mecA gene (causing resistance to methicillin) and SCCmec types.
  • Methods: A total of 44 S. aureus were collected between October and December 2017 from patients with the symptoms of UTI in two hospitals of Sanandaj, Iran. Isolates were examined for susceptibility to 9 antibiotics using the disk diffusion method and to vancomycin by E- test. The mecA and SCCmec types were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  • Results: The most effective antibiotics were vancomycin, linezolid, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and the least effective antibiotics were penicillin and erythromycin. Of the 44 isolates, 20.5% were identified as MRSA. Different antibiotic resistance patterns were identified in the MRSA isolates. Five of the 44 isolates (11.4%) carried the mecA gene. Of the 5 mecA-positive isolates, 2 isolates harbored SCCmec type V and 3 isolates were non-typeable.
  • Conclusion: Our study suggests that for treating a patient with S. aureus UTI, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, vancomycin or linezolid would be suitable agents. The identification of an MRSA isolate in a urine culture calls for serious health concern, thus highlights the need to monitor drug resistance in S. aureus strains.
  • Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin resistance, Urinary tract infection