Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus argenteus misidentified as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus emerging in western Sweden

Abstract

Two strains included in a whole-genome sequencing project for methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) were identified as non-<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> when the sequences were analysed using the bioinformatics software ALEX (www.1928diagnostics.com, Gothenburg, Sweden). Sequencing of the <i>sod</i>A gene of these strains identified them as <i>Staphylococcus argenteus</i>. The collection of MRSA in western Sweden was checked for additional strains of this species. A total of 18 strains of <i>S. argenteus</i> isolated between 2011 and December 2017 were identified.