Identification of the respiratory tract infection due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by TaqMan real-time PCR

Abstract The methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a significant human pathogenic bacterium that is endemic within hospitals around the world. The identification and inspection of MRSA in clinical samples is quite helpful both in advising individual patients about the required care and in tracking these species. The goal of this study was to present a modern, faster, and more accurate diagnostic technique to operate on the real-time duplex PCR applicable to S. aureus/MRSA monitoring in Iraqi patients. For this reason, the S. aureus-specific nuc gene sequence and the mecA gene sequence were checked simultaneously. To estimate the assay efficiency, a set of six target strains, 34 non-target strains, and 296 clinical specimens were used. The findings obtained from the diagnosis of a total of 296 isolates based on phenotypic characteristics and biochemical tests showed that 146 (49.32%) were classified as individuals with respiratory tract infections of S. aureus with a total male to female ratio of 1.47, and 142 isolates demonstrated methicillin resistance. 142 MRSA isolates were investigated in the molecular analysis, all MRSA isolates had positive results for the nuc gene and 138 isolates were positive for the mecA gene. The current real-time PCR assay has 97% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 98% accuracy. Running title: Identification of the MRSA by real time PCR