An epidemic CC1-MRSA-IV clone yields false-negative test results in molecular MRSA identification assays: a note of caution, Austria, Germany, Ireland, 2020

We investigated why a clinical meticillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolate yielded false-negative results with some commercial PCR tests for MRSA detection. We found that an epidemic European CC1-MRSA-IV clone generally exhibits this behaviour. The failure of the assays was attributable to a large insertion in theorfX/SCCmec integration site. To ensure the reliability of molecular MRSA tests, it is vital to monitor emergence of new SCCmec types and junction sites.

Source: Eurosurveillance - June 25, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Stefan Monecke, Elisabeth K önig, Megan R Earls, Eva Leitner, Elke Müller, Gabriel E Wagner, David M Poitz, Lutz Jatzwauk, Teodora Vremerǎ, Olivia S Dorneanu, Alexandra Simbeck, Andreas Ambrosch, Ines Zollner-Schwetz, Robert Krause, Werner Ruppitsch, W Source Type: research