SPREAD OF THE MULTIRESISTANT IBERIAN CLONE OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS-AUREUS (MRSA) TO ITALY AND SCOTLAND

The multidrug-resistant ''Iberian'' clone of methicillin-resistant Sta phylococcus aureus (MRSA) was first identified on the basis of its uni que DNA fingerprints as the strain responsible for the massive 1989 ou tbreak of MRSA disease in the hospital Princeps d'Espanya, Barcelona, Spain. Most Iberian MRSA carry a constitutive P-lactamase. They are re sistant to most beta-lactam antibiotics, macrolides, aminoglycosides, tetracycline, rifampin and ciprofloxacin and are susceptible to fosfom ycin, fusidic acid, mupirocin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and vanco mycin, The characteristic DNA fingerprints of the clone include the me cA polymorph I, Tn554 pattern E (or its variants), a chromosomal macro restriction pattern (pulsed-field gel electrophoretic type) A. (or its subtype variants), the lack of the mecI regulatory gene and a homogen eous, high level of expression of methicillin resistance, Molecular su rveillance studies have documented the extensive spread of this clone to many Portuguese hospitals during the 1990s, In this article, we des cribe the spread of the Iberian MRSA to hospitals in Rome, Italy, and Scotland.