Molecular Surveillance of mecA, mecC, and blaZ Genes in Urpathogenic Coagulase-negative Staphylococci Isolated from Woman Outpatients in Wasit Province, Iraq

Abstract

Urinary tract infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci have increased, accompanied by raising antibiotic resistance particularly during pregnancy. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of mecA, mecC, blaZ, and vanA genes in Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus isolates from young female outpatients with acute UTI. Hence, 26 S. epidermidis and 22 S. haemolyticus isolates were surveyed in this study. mecA gene was identified in both S. epidermidis 88.4% and S. haemolyticus 86.3% isolates, with no significant difference between the two species. The blaZ gene was present in 96.3% and 81.8% of S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus isolates, also the difference was not significant. All mecA-positive S. epidermidis isolates and 84.2% of mecA-positive S. haemolyticus isolates co-carried blaZ gene. The vanA and mecC genes were absent from all isolates. These findings highlight the emergence of β-lactams' resistance among CoNS isolated from young women outpatients with acute UTI in the study area.