Detection of diverse SCC mec variants in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and comparison of SCC mec typing methods

Non-duplicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates (n = 436), collected from four hospitals located in three Korean cities between 2001 and 2005, were investigated by SCC mec typing and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Variations within SCC mec, especially type II, were detected in 165 (37.8%) isolates, and these variants were characterised using four different SCC mec typing methods. The predominant SCC mec type was a type II variant that differed from type II by the absence of a pUB110 insertion. MLST analysis showed that most of the isolates carrying SCC mec variants belonged to ST5.