Presence of the epidemic European fusidic acid-resistant impetigo clone (EEFIC) of Staphylococcus aureus in France

Denton et al.1 recently reported the results of the EPISA study, which compared the susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus causing community-acquired skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in three European countries. They highlighted in par-ticular that the resistance rate to fusidic acid was significantly lower in French (6.3%) than in Irish (31.4%) or British (24.4%) isolates. This difference was attributed by the authors to the likely spread of a fusidic acid-resistant clone, named the epi-demic European fusidic acid-resistant impetigo clone (EEFIC) in the latter two countries.2 This clone, initially described in Scandinavia, had so far been reported sporadically in the UK.3 It is characterized by: (i) agr allelic group 4, spa type t171 [or single-locus variants (t408, t659, t874, t875)], sequence type (ST) 123, clonal complex 121; (ii) the presence of the eta (exfoliative toxin A) gene with the majority of strains also carry