Genetic relatedness between methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: results of a national survey

Abstract

These findings are consistent with multiple recent acquisitions of the more mobile type IV SCCmec by MSSA and suggest that certain genetic backgrounds are conferring a selective advantage, regardless of the resistance profile. However, since the predominant MSSA and MRSA lineages identified in Belgium are disseminated worldwide, importation of epidemic MRSA strains remains an alternative hypothesis.