OBJECTIVETo study the antibiotic- and disinfectant-resistance features of and disinfectant-resistant gene distribution in Staphylococcus aureus (Sa) isolated from the urogenital tract of male patients with urogenital tract infection (UTI). total of 152 Sa isolates were collected from the urethral discharge specimens from male UTI patients. The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of antimicrobial agents and disinfectants commonly used against Sa were tested by standard ager dilution; the methicillin-resistant Sa (MRSA) isolates detected by cefoxitin disk diffusion and mecA gene amplification; Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) genotyping performed by multiplex PCR; the disinfectants gene qac (quaternary ammonium compound) amplified by PCR; and the clonal relatedness of qacA/B-positive MRSA isolates investigated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

RESULTSOut of the 152 Sa isolates, 91 (59.9%) were found to be MRSA. SCCmec genotyping showed SCCmec V to be the main type, accounting for 63.7% (58/91), with 8 (8.8%) isolates of SCCmec I, 2 (2.2%) isolates of SCCmec II, 19 (20.9%) isolates of SCCmec III, and 4 (4. 4%) isolates of SCCmec IV. The Sa isolates exhibited high rates of non-susceptibility to penicillin (95.4%) , erythromycin (72.4% ) , ciprofloxacin (42. 8%), and levofloxacin (44.7%), and a fairly high sensitivity to nitrofurantoin, teicoplanin, linezolid, and vancomycin. The MIC in the Sa isolates was 0. 25 -16 microg/ml for chlorhexidine; MIC50 and MIC90 were 2.0 and 4.0 microg/ml respectively for MRSA strains and both 1.0 microg/ml for MSSA strains. Out of the 152 Sa isolates, 72 (47.4%) harbored the qacA/B gene, 6 (3.9%) the smar (qacC + qacD) gene, 9 (5.9%) the qacE delta 1 gene, and 2 (1.3%) the qacH gene, but no qacG and qacJ genes were detected. PFGE analysis showed that the qacA/B-positive MRSA isolates were distributed

CONCLUSIONClinical Sa isolates exhibited varied degrees of resistance to commonly used antibiotics, and in a polyclonal manner. some showed a robust tolerance to chlorhexidine. The main disinfectant-resistant gene is qacA/B. Antimicrobial agents and disinfectants should be used rationally according to clinicians.