Clonal complexes distribution of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from clinical samples from Caribbean Islands.

The aim of this study was to comprehensively characterise S. aureus from the Caribbean Islands of Trinidad, Tobago and Jamaica. Panton Valentine leukocidin genes (PVL) were commonly detected and all genotypically positive isolates but one also yielded positive lateral flow results. This isolate was sequenced alongside a PVL-producing one, demonstrating a frameshift mutation in agrC.The pandemic ST239-MRSA-III strain was still common but some isolates showed a composite SCCmec element. Three of these isolates were se-quenced. That showed a group of genes (among others, speG, crzC and ccrA/B-4) to be linked to its SCC element, as previously found in some CC5- and CC8-MRSA as well as in S. epidermidis.