Do differences in panton-valentine leukocidin production among international methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones affect disease presentation and severity?

Abstract

Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) production by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was determined in vitro using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and associations with clinical presentation and bacterial genetic characteristics were examined. PVL production ranged from 0.02 to 4.865 μg/ml and correlated with a multilocus sequence type (MLST) clonal complex associated with specific PVL phage types. A relationship between PVL production and clinical presentation or patient demographics could not be demonstrated. Copyright © 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.