Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are considered low pathogenic organisms. However, they are progressively causing more serious infections with time because they have adapted well to various antibiotics owing to their ability to form biofilms. Few studies have been conducted on CoNS in both, hospital and community-acquired settings, especially in Malaysia. Thus, it is important to study their species and gene distributions. A mobile genetic element, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec), plays an important role in staphylococci pathogenesis. Among CoNS, SCCmec has been studied less frequently than Staphylococcus aureus (coagulase-positive staphylococci). A recent study (8) conducted in Malaysia successfully detected SCCmec type I to VIII as well as several new combination patterns in CoNS species, particularly Staphylococcus epidermidis. However, data are still limited, and further research is warranted. This paper provides a review on SCCmec types among CoNS species.

Introduction: Keratitis is an eye-threatening condition, which requires immediate treatment, due to the rapid progression when the infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study aimed to describe the socio-demographic factors and risk factors related to Pseudomonas keratitis in selected six government hospitals in Johor, Malaysia. Methods: An 18 months cross-sectional study was conducted among bacterial keratitis patients from six government hospitals offering ophthalmology services in Johor, Malaysia. The cases were confirmed through a positive culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All data on socio-demographic factors, risk factors, and symptoms were recorded using a data collection form and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 26. Results: Fifty-five patients were diagnosed with Pseudomonas keratitis in this study. The majority of patients were males (65.5%) with a mean age of 41.22 years old. The majority of patients were of Malay ethnicity (60.0%). More than a quarter of cases are involved in office-oriented jobs (n=14, 25.5%). The major risk factors in this study were contact-lens usage (n=25, 45.5%), trauma (n=20, 36.4%), ophthalmic steroid usage (n=16, 29.1%), ocular surface disease (n=12, 21.8%) and previous eye surgery (n=4, 7.3%). This study found underlying medical illness (p=0.036) and ocular surface disease (p=0.051) are significantly associated with Pseudomonas keratitis. Conclusion: The present study is the first study in Malaysia focusing on Pseudomonas keratitis. This study provides additional information on the epidemiology data of keratitis in Malaysia. Future studies shall be extended to all government hospitals in Malaysia to obtain better insight on the disease burden of keratitis especially on Pseudomonas keratitis.