Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most common organisms associated with infections among burn patients and has shown a frequent and rapid development of antibiotic resistance. The presence of genes encoding aminoglycoside modifying enzymes (AME) and tetracycline resistance were detected by PCR and multiplex-PCR. Among the 151 S. aureus isolates recovered from the burn patients, 96 (63.6) were detected to have mecA gene. The rate of tetracycline resistance genes associated with mecA was 61 (92/151). Forty nine isolates (32.4) contained tetM, 26 (17.2) possessed only tetK and 21 (13.9) contained both tetM and tetK. The presence of the aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2″)-I gene was determined in 18 isolates, aph(3′)-IIIa in 8 isolates, both the aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2″)-I, aph(3′)-IIIa and the ant(4′)-Ia genes in 69 isolates, both aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2″)-I and ant(4′)-Ia in 6 isolates, and both the aph(3′)-IIIa and the ant(4′)-Ia genes in 8 isolates. Most of the strains which harboured the mecA gene also contained the tet and AME genes.