Staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolates causing nosocomial infections

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing is a typing method based on the DNA sequence analysis of staphylococcal protein A gene. The purpose of this study was to do molecular typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients in Toohid and Besat hospitals, Sanandaj, Iran, in 2014. METHODS: Clinical specimens were collected from hospitalized patients over a period of 1 year. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were identified using culture and biochemical standard methods based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guideline. spa gene patterns in Staphylococcus aureus isolates were identified using spa-typing techniques. RESULTS: In total, 20 different patterns of spa gene were obtained in staphylococcus aureus isolates in this study, which included type t030 (6 cases), types t230, t459, and t701 (3 cases of each one), types t11332 and t304 (2 cases of each one), and types t325, t012, t1149, t1810, t197, t325, t7789, t808, t871, t937, t14896, t14913, t14928, and t14929 (1 case of each one). The highest prevalence belonged to types t030 (30.0%), and then, types t230, t459, and t701 (15.0% for each one). New types of t14896, t14913, t14928, and t14929 were identified during this study. CONCLUSION: There were some well-known patterns of spa types, and also we identified new types that should be studied more to qualify. Analysis of these patterns can improve insight to design nosocomial infection control programs.