Detection of Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene in Staphylococcus aureus by LightCycler PCR: clinical and epidemiological aspects.

The prevalence of the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene in Staphylococcus aureus was investigated with a simple, reproducible and rapid real-time LightCycler SYBR Green I PCR assay. The PVL gene was detected in one isolate from 65 patients with S. aureus bacteraemia, in four isolates from 55 patients with respiratory tract infections, and in two isolates from 91 patients with cutaneous infections. In contrast, 15 of 25 cutaneous isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) were positive. All PVL-positive cutaneous MRSA isolates were community-acquired and comprised three different clones as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The PVL gene was detected in isolates from patients with recurrent primary skin infections and S. aureus bacteraemia, but PVL did not seem to be an important virulence factor in the pathogenesis of staphylococcal bacteraemia.