Genomic Epidemiology and Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> from Bloodstream Infections in China
Ye Jin, Wangxiao Zhou, Qing Zhan, Beiwen Zheng, Yunbo Chen, Qixia Luo, Ping Shen, Yonghong Xiao
Abstract
As a developing country, China has an unbalanced health care system due to regional differences in economic development. However, China is also a country worthy of study with regard to the population dynamics of MRSA within the more resource-rich health care systems. In this study, we carried out genomic analysis to investigate the genomic epidemiology and characterization of MRSA isolated from bloodstream infections over a timespan of 6 years. Our refined analysis of different MRSA clones among ST59, ST5, ST239, and ST398 demonstrated the existence of driving factors for the evolution of nosocomial MRSA populations and diversity of the evolutionary events surrounding clonal replacement.