Spa technique for typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients with health care associated infection in Tanta University Hospitals

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of health care associated infection (HCAI) it has a broad spread in both community and hospital settings. Its importance increased a with the marked development of drug resistance among its isolates to various antibiotic particularly methicillin (MRSA) so it is important to detect various strains and identify its source for proper management . There are numerous methods for typing of S. aureus. Spa typing is effective ,relatively in expensive with good reproduciblity. Objectives : To assess the the spa gene diversity among S. aureus isolates, genotype clinical S. aureus isolates in Tanta University Hospitals and the patterns of antibiotic sensitivity & resistance among various isolates. Methods: one hundred samples were gathered under complete aseptic measures and underwent the following: standard microbiological techniques for detection of staphylococcal isolates then antibiotic susceptibility and Spa typing is performed and DNA sequencing and analysis by Chromas software. Results: S.aureus was the most prevalent isolate (65%) ,the prevalence of MRSA was 69.2 %. 49 (75.4%) of the 65 strains displayed Spa gene . Six distinct spa types were identified. t304 (15 isolates, 30.6%), t307 (10 isolates, 20.4 %), t037 (9 isolates ,18.3 %), t030 (8 isolates ,16.3 %), t346 (5 isolates, 10.2%), t044 (2 isolates, 4.1%).Conclusions: S.aureus is a consequential cause of HCAI. MRSA has a wide spread. Spa typing is a good ,relatively inexpensive and reproducible technique for typing of S.aureus.