MRSA testing

Testing disinfectants against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA testing is undertaken in partnership with the Scottish MRSA Reference Laboratory. We can test representatives of the five major epidemic MRSA Clonal Complexes giving you world-wide coverage for your agent. Alternatively, we can test against the predominant strains in your region.

Prevalence of the Major Epidemic MRSA Clones

Although each country have their own names for MRSA clones MLST Typing data which groups MRSA into Clonal Complexes (CC) made up of related Sequence Types (ST) is the widely adopted international nomenclature. The majority of MRSA infections worldwide are caused by MRSA clones which fall within five Clonal Complexes. A representative of each of these Clonal Complexes can be tested. EMRSA 15 and EMRSA16 are the dominant MRSA clones in the UK. In Scotland these two clones account for 72% and 20%, respectively, of all MRSA referred to the Scottish MRSA Reference Laboratory. EMRSA-15 has been reported in several other European countries including Germany, Finland and Portugal and in Western Australia. A variant of EMRSA15 which carries the PVL toxin has been reported causing community acquired MRSA infections in both Germany and the UK. EMRSA-16 and other clones within Clonal Complex 30 are found worldwide. They are the second commonest MRSA in the USA (9%) and are a common cause of community acquired MRSA in both the USA and Australia. The New York/Tokyo clone is the commonest clone in the USA (44%) and Japan and is found in many other countries worldwide. In Scotland it is the third commonest clone and accounts for just over 1% of MRSA. The Iberian clone is multi–resistant and is common in many European countries and in South America. Although common in the UK in the early 1990 it is now rarely reported. Clonal Complex 45 accounts for about 1% of Scottish MRSA but is found in several other European countries and accounts for 3% of MRSA in the USA.

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