Near absence of methicillin-resistance and pronounced genetic diversity among Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated from healthy persons in northern Sweden.

The main aim of this study was to examine if hospital-associated clones of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MDRSE), commonly identified in hospitals in our region, also are spread among healthy persons in the community. A total of 124 isolates of S. epidermidis sampled from subjects attending a Travel health clinic, Umeå, Sweden during 2008 were examined with antibiotic susceptibility testing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis. Resistance to methicillin or any antibiotic was detected in 2 and 26 of the isolates, respectively. PFGE analysis showed an extensive genetic diversity with 86 different PFGE types, 62 of which were singletons. No isolates belonged to the previously described hospital-associated MDRSE genotypes, indicating that MDRSE by large are confined to the hospital setting in our region. In conclusion, community-associated isolates of S. epidermidis showed a low level of methicillin-resistance and were genetically extremely diverse with no predominating genotype.