Emergence and spread of low-level mupirocin resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a community hospital in Japan

The objective of this study was to investigate the state of mupirocin resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a community hospital in Japan. Ninety strains of MRSA were isolated from the respiratory tract of 56 patients (group I, Jun 1990-Aug 1996) before introduction of mupirocin in Japan, which were compared with 168 strains from 48 patients (group II, Sept 1996-Jan 1998) and 146 strains from 85 patients (group III, Feb 1999-Dec 1999) isolated after introduction of mupirocin. Comparisons were made by determining the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against nine antibiotics. Fifty-five MRSA isolates from 27 patients [13 (27.1%) of 48 in group II and 14 (16.5%) of 85 in group III] after introduction of mupirocin showed low-level resistance to mupirocin (MIC, 6.25 to 50 mug/ml) but the remaining isolates were sensitive to mupirocin (MIC less than or equal to 3.13 mug/ml). Most patients colonized with low-level mupirocin-resistant MRSA were elderly(greater than or equal to 65 years of age), on total parenteral nutrition or nasal feeding and had other underlying diseases. The proportion of patients colonized with low-level mupirocin-resistant MRSA following repeated use of mupirocin was higher in patients of group II than those of group III. Molecular typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) demonstrated that the pattern of 13 MRSA isolates from 13 patients of group II consisted of three patterns (A, B, C) with predominance of pattern A, while the pattern of 13 MRSA isolates from 13 patients of group III consisted of three patterns (A, C, D) with predominance of patterns A and D. Our results indicated that resistance of MRSA to mupirocin remains at a low level at present in Japan. However, we should be aware of the possible emergence of MRSA highly resistant to mupirocin in the future. (C) 2001 The Hospital Infection Society.