Antimicrobial activity of tigecycline against community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from North American medical centers.

A total of 1989 community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) were susceptibility tested by broth microdilution. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, SCCmec type, and polymerase chain reaction for Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes were also performed. The overall tigecycline susceptibility rate was 98.2%. Glycopeptides, quinupristin/dalfopristin, linezolid, and chloramphenicol were also active against this collection (< or =0.7% resistant). The vast majority (70.8%) of the CA-MRSA was SCCmec type IV, from which 88.4% belonged to the USA300-0114 clone and 94.7% were PVL positive. Tigecycline showed in vitro activity comparable with other highly active parenteral agents and represents an option for treating complicated infections caused by CA-MRSA.