ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Rasha Hassan Hassan1 , Maysaa El Sayed Zaki2, Eman Hosney Mohammad Salem3, Lobna Abdelaziz Kassem4, Dina Mohammed Abdel-Hady1 and Omnia A. Salem1
1Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
2Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
3Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
4Clinical Pathology Department, King Khalid Hospital and Prince Sultan Centre, Al-Kharj,
Saudi Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Article Number: 11459 | © The Author(s). 2026
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2026;20(3):2366-2376. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.20.3.30
Received: 18 February 2026 | Accepted: 12 May 2026 | Published online: 03 August 2026
Issue online: September 2026
Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a leading cause of infections in children. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, especially methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), presents significant therapeutic challenges. Data on molecular resistance and virulence determinants in pediatric isolates from Egypt remain limited. This retrospective study analysed 120 non-duplicate S. aureus isolates recovered from pediatric patients. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was performed using the CLSI disk diffusion method. Conventional PCR detected resistance genes (mecA, blaZ, ermA/B/C, msrA, mphC, tetK, tetM, aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme (AME) genes, and qacA/B) and the Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene. Logistic regression assessed associations with MDR. Of the 120 isolates examined, 55% were from hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The blaZ gene was present in 83.3% of isolates, and mecA in 36.7%. Genes tetK, tetM, ermC, and mphC were significantly associated with MDR. The PVL gene was detected in 18.3% of isolates. Approximately one-third of isolates met the definition of MDR, showing resistance to three or more antimicrobial categories. MDR in pediatric S. aureus in Egypt is primarily driven by genetic determinants, underscoring the significance of molecular surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS).

Keywords

S. aureus, MRSA, Tetracycline Resistance, Macrolide Resistance, PVL, Molecular Surveillance

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© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.