The Molecular Epidemiological Study of MRSA in Mexico

Abstract

The rapid spread of infections by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) emerged in the early 1960s, and this pathogen is one of the most common agents of nosocomial infections. As a reaction to the appearance and spread of multi-drug-resistant MRSA in Mexico, some hospitals have established molecular epidemiological surveillance, where pandemic clones of MRSA have been detected in different states in the north, the center, and the south of Mexico. The pandemic clones detected in Mexico are the Iberian, the New York/Japan, the pediatric, the EMRSA-16, and the USA-300. The surveillance or evolutionary studies carried out in Mexico, using different molecular methodologies, have shown a predominance of the New York/Japan clone, which has even displaced other MRSA clones. Therefore, it is necessary to continue establishing molecular surveillance and diagnostic programs as a special management for the confirmed MRSA infections, if these measures are not carried out to understand and control the changing lineages of MRSA, in the future, it may become an important public health problem, since the New York/Japan clone, which is the most predominant in our country, clearly demonstrates its great capacity for geographical expansion, multi-resistance, and virulence.