Vaginal colonization with virulent and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among Ugandan women in Labour.
BMC Microbiol
; 24(1): 307, 2024 Aug 19.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39155368
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) often colonizes the human skin, upper respiratory and genital tracts. In the female genital tract, it can be passed on to the newborn during vaginal delivery leading to either ordinary colonization, or neonatal infections notably umbilical stump sepsis, scalded skin syndrome, arthritis, or bacteraemia/sepsis. These infections are mediated by staphylococcal virulence factors such as (i) Staphylococcal Enterotoxins A, B, C, D, and E encoded by the sea, seb, sec, sed, see genes, (ii) Exfoliative Toxins A and B encoded by the eta and etb genes, (iii) Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1 (TSST-1) encoded by the tst gene, (iv) Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) encoded by the pvl gene, and (v) Hemolysins alpha and delta encoded by the hla and hld genes, respectively. We determined the prevalence of S. aureus possessing one or more virulence factor genes and of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in this population.METHODS:
This was a cross-sectional study, which used 85 S. aureus isolates from the Chlorohexidine (CHX) clinical trial study in Uganda. The isolates had been obtained by culturing vaginal swabs (VS) from 1472 women in labour, frozen at minus 80oC, then thawed, sub-cultured, and tested for the selected virulence genes sea, seb, sec, sed, see eta, etb, tst, pvl, hla and hld, and for the methicillin resistance determining gene (mecA). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.RESULTS:
Of the 85 S. aureus isolates 13 (15.3%) were positive for one or more virulence factor genes, as follows pvl 9/85 (10.6%), hld 5/85 (5.9%), sea 1/85 (1.2%) and seb genes 1/85 (1.2%). The other virulence genes (sec, sed, see, eta, etb, hla and tst) were not detected in any of the isolates. MRSA was detected in 55.3% (47/85) of the isolates, but only two of these carried the pvl virulence gene.CONCLUSION:
This study demonstrated that 15% of the S. aureus colonizing the female lower genital tract of mothers in labour in central Uganda carried one or more virulence genes, mostly pvl, indicating potential for newborn infection with S. aureus acquired in the maternal birth canal. More than half of the isolates were MRSA.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Infecciones Estafilocócicas
/
Vagina
/
Factores de Virulencia
/
Staphylococcus aureus Resistente a Meticilina
Límite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
/
Pregnancy
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Microbiol
Asunto de la revista:
MICROBIOLOGIA
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Uganda
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido