The prevalence of genes encoding Leukocidins in both methicillin resistant and methicillin sensitive strains of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from burn patients in Taleghani hospital, Ahvaz

Bakground and Various strains of Staphylococcus aureus produce different bi-component toxins such as LUKE/D and PVL. This strains of S.aureus strains are associated with severe skin diseases, fatal pneumonia and osteomyelitis with high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of genes encoding Leukocidins in Staphylococcus aureus strains resistant and sensitive to methicillin isolated from burn patients in, Ahvaz. This cross sectional study was performed on scar specimens of 203 burn patients hospitalized in Taleghani hospital. All samples were evaluated by traditional culture method and standard biochemical tests for detecting of S. aureus strains. After extracting DNA, mecA, PVL and LUKE/D genes were detected by using the polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR). S. aureus strains were isolated from 95 cases out of total studied samples (46.8%), betwwn them 83 strains (87.36%) were mecA positive. The prevalence of PVL and LUKE/D genes in MRSA strains were 7.23% and 66.26% respectively, while this prevalence were 33.3% for both genes in MSSA strains. Regarding to the high frequency of PVL and LUKE/D genes in MRSA strains, also to severe and lethal diseases caused by these bacteria, early diagnosis and proper treatment must be considered for the prevention of disease progress.