doi:10.5402/2012/215275 Research Article Genetic Characterization of Methicillin Resistant and Sensitive, Vancomycin Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus Strains Isolated from Different Iranian Hospitals

Copyright © 2012 Seyed Asghar Havaei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Global concerns have been raised due to upward trend of Vancomycin Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) and Vancomycin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) reports which mean casting doubt on the absolute effectiveness of the last line of antibiotic treatment for S. aureus, vancomycin. Hence, epidemiological evaluation can improve global health care policies. Methodology. 171 Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were collected from different types of clinical samples in selected hospitals in Isfahan, Mashhad, and Tehran, Iran. Then, they were evaluated by agar screening, disk diffusion, and MIC method to determine their resistance to vancomycin and methicillin. The isolated VISA strains were then confirmed with genetic analysi