A Novel, Widespread qacA Allele Results in Reduced Chlorhexidine Susceptibility in Staphylococcus epidermidis.

ABSTRACT: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) is a topical antiseptic widely used in health care settings. In Staphylococcus spp., the pump QacA effluxes CHG, while the closely related QacB cannot due to a single amino acid substitution. We characterized 1,050 cutaneous Staphylococcus isolates obtained from 173 pediatric oncology patients enrolled in a multicenter CHG bathing trial. CHG susceptibility testing revealed that 63 (6%) of these isolates had elevated CHG MICs (≥4 μg/ml). Screening of all 1,050 isolates for the qacA/B gene (the same qac gene with A or B allele) by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) yielded 56 isolates with a novel qacA/B RFLP pattern, qacA/B₂₇₃ The CHG MIC was significantly higher for qacA/B₂₇₃ -

SUBMITTER: Addetia A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6535555 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature