| Congresso Brasileiro de Microbiologia 2023 | Resumo: 1071-1 | ||||
Resumo:Staphylococcus aureus colonizes up to 30% of the healthy population’s anterior nares, and nasal colonization is a risk factor for infections. This pathogen can produce multiple virulence factors related to local and systemic conditions, such as mastitis, breast abscess, surgical site infections, scalded skin syndrome, toxic shock syndrome, pneumonia, and sepsis. Newborns, pregnant and postpartum women are a vulnerable group. This study aimed to investigate the toxins genes of S. aureus strains isolated from the anterior nares of postpartum women. Also, SCCmec typing was performed in methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains. Nasal swabs were collected from postpartum women in a University Hospital of Vitória – Espírito Santo. The collection occurred up to 48 hours postpartum, from March 2018 to March 2019. PCR was used to investigate the genes for exfoliative toxins (eta and etb), toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (tsst), enterotoxins (sea, seb, sec, sed and see), hemolysins (hla, hld, hlg, and hlg-2) and to determine the SCCmec type of the MRSA strains. Forty-five S. aureus were recovered and seven (15.6%) were identified as MRSA, all carrying SCCmec type IVa. Twenty-two (48.9%) and 8 (17.8%) strains were positive for eta and etb, respectively. One (2.2%) strain harbored the tsst gene. Nineteen (42.2%) strains carried the sea gene, followed by sec (8, 17.8%) and seb (4, 8.9%). None carried the sed gene. The most prevalent hemolysin gene was hld (42, 93.3%) and the least was hlg (4, 8.9%). The hla was found in 22 (48.9%) and hlg-2 in 10 (22.2%) strains. The diversity of toxin genes detected in this study should be highlighted since they are responsible for tissue damage and prolonged infection. Additionally, SCCmec type IV is frequently detected in virulent strains from the community and hospital and is prevalent in Brazil. These characteristics in strains colonizing postpartum women are concerning due to the risk of infection and transmissibility to the newborn, who does not have the immune system completely formed. Palavras-chave: Staphylococcus aureus, nasal colonization, virulence, SCCmec, postpartum women | |||||