en Clinical microbiology Clinical microbiology پژوهشي Research <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Introduction</b>: Since its discovery in 1961, methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) has been recognized as a significant healthcare-associated pathogen (HA-MRSA) and a notorious &#39;superbug&#39;. Typing is crucial for surveillance, epidemiology analysis, infection control of MRSA and sequencing of the <i>spa</i> gene is one of the most common methods used for determining the origin of this bacterium in humans and animals. This research aimed to determine the antibiotic resistance and <i>spa</i> type of <i>S. aureus</i> strains collected from outpatients in two hospitals in the Wasit province of Iraq.</span></span><br> <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Material & Methods</b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">: </span></span></b>The study analyzed 200 outpatient MRSA isolates by collecting nasal and sputum samples from patients. Standard biochemical and molecular methods based on the nuc gene were used to identify <i>S. aureus</i> bacteria and amplify the <i>mecA</i> and <i>spa </i>genes. The Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was employed to determine the antibiotic sensitivity of the isolates using penicillin, cefoxitin, vancomycin, gentamicin, erythromycin, tetracycline, imipenem, clindamycin, chloramphenicol and rifampicin.</span></span><br> <span style="font-size:9pt"><span minion="" pro="" style="font-family:"><b>Results</b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">: </span></span></b>Thirty-five (17.5%) out of 200 isolates were identified as <i>S. aureus</i> by biochemical and molecular methods. The prevalence of MRSA was more common in women than in men. Antibiogram results showed that most of the isolates were resistant to penicillin (94.2%) and sensitive to imipenem (100%), clindamycin (100%), and chloramphenicol (100%). Of these 35 isolates, 30 (87.5%) and 26 strains (74.3%) were positive for the <i>mecA</i> and <i>spa </i>genes. Typing based on <i>spa </i>gene sequencing revealed four different patterns: t386, t3579, t10002 and t10234.</span></span><br> <b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="line-height:97%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:">Conclusion</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="line-height:97%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">: &nbsp;</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:97%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:">Variations in the <i>spa </i>gene among different <i>S. aureus</i> isolates may be of clinical importance when treating staphylococcal infections. In this study, <i>spa </i>typing revealed four different patterns in Iraq, representing diagnostic and therapeutic implications</span></span></span> : Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, PCR, mecA, spa typing 35 45 http://jbrms.medilam.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-808-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Karar Alhakeem 10031947532846007500 0009-0001-8939-5576 No MSc Student, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ilam University, Ilam-Iran Mostafa Nemati m.nemati@ilam.ac.ir 10031947532846007501 10031947532846007501 Yes Associate Prof., Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ilam University, Ilam-Iran Fazel Pourahmad f.pourahmad@ilam.ac.ir 10031947532846007502 10031947532846007502 No Associate Prof., Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ilam University, Ilam-Iran Hussam Sami Alshimry Husamshaft@gmail.com 10031947532846007503 10031947532846007503 No Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Wasit- Iraq