Prevalence of mecA, icaA, hlα, sea genes in multi-drug resistance Staphylococcus aureus isolated from vaginosis in Iraqi women

Background: Staphylococcus aureus has become resistant to many antibiotics worldwide due to their widespread use. The development of Staph. aureus resistance refers to many mechanisms involving the generation of enzymes that suppress antimicrobial factors. Objective: The current study used genetic markers to investigate Staph. aureus's prevalence, resistance, and virulence. Methodology: 150 vaginal swab samples were collected from pregnant and nonpregnant women admitted to Ibn Al-Baladi and Al-Imamain Al-Kadhimain Hospital / Iraq. The study was performed from July to October 2023. Results: The results showed highly resistant isolates of Staph. aureus toward Cefoxitin, Benzylpenicillin, Amoxicillin, Oxacillin (100%), Amikacin, and Erythromycin (70%). Moderate resistance against Tetracycline, Fusidic Acid (55%), Gentamicin, and Tobramycin (50%).MDR (multidrug resistance) was estimated at 60%. In comparison, XDR ( extensive drug resistance) was estimated at 40%. Further, the results showed that 13 isolates of S.aureus have mecA genes at (86.7%), while 11 isolates have icaA gene (73.3%), and 8 isolates have sea gene (53.3%), whereas hla gene found in all 15 isolates (100%). Sequences of the mecA gene had a similarity of 100% with the reference strain KR936061.1 in GenBank. The icaA gene had a similarity of 99.7% with CP123742.1. The sea gene had a similarity of 98% with LC020109.1. The results sequence of hla gene had a similarity of 99.4% with reference strain EF543163.1 in gene bank. Conclusions: There was a prevalence of methicillin resistance in Staph. aureus due to the presence of the resistance gene (mecA gene 86.7%) in most isolates. In isolates, the existence of virulence genes icaA, sea, and hla was at (73.3%, 53.3%, and 100%, respectively).