Castro, Betsy E.Berrio, MaritzaVargas, Mónica L.Carvajal, Lina P.Millan, Lina V.Rios, RafaelHernández, Angie K.Rincon, SandraCubides, PaolaForero, ErikaDinh, AnSeas, CarlosMunita, JoséArias, Cesar A.Reyes, JinnetheDíaz, Lorena2021-08-042021-08-042020-06Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2020, vol. 75(9)https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkaa221http://hdl.handle.net/11447/4225Background: Vancomycin is a common first-line option for MRSA infections. The heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) phenotype is associated with therapeutic failure. However, hVISAisolates are usually reported as vancomycin susceptible by routine susceptibility testing procedures. Objectives: To detect and characterize the hVISA phenotype in MRSA isolates causing infections in nine LatinAmerican countries. Methods: We evaluated a total of 1189 vancomycin-susceptible MRSA isolates recovered during 2006–08 and2011–14. After an initial screening of hVISA using glycopeptide-supplemented agar strategies, the detection ofhVISA was performed by Etest (GRD) and Macro-method (MET). Isolates deemed to be hVISA were subjectedto population analysis profile/AUC (PAP/AUC) and WGS for further characterization. Finally, we interrogatedalterations in predicted proteins associated with the development of the VISA phenotype in both hVISA andvancomycin-susceptible S. aureus (VSSA) genomes. Results: A total of 39 MRSA isolates (3.3%) were classified as hVISA (1.4% and 5.6% in MRSA recovered from2006–08 and 2011–14, respectively). Most of the hVISA strains (95%) belonged to clonal complex (CC) 5. Only6/39 hVISA isolates were categorized as hVISA by PAP/AUC, with 6 other isolates close (0.87–0.89) to the cut-off(0.9). The majority of the 39 hVISA isolates exhibited the Leu-14!Ile (90%) and VraT Glu-156!Gly (90%) aminoacid substitutions in WalK. Additionally, we identified 10 substitutions present only in hVISA isolates, involvingWalK, VraS, RpoB and RpoC proteins. Conclusions: The hVISA phenotype exhibits low frequency in Latin America. Aminoacid substitutions in proteinsinvolved in cell envelope homeostasis and RNA synthesis were commonly identified. Our results suggest thatEtest-based methods are an important alternative for the detection of hVISA clinical isolates8 p.enVancomycinPharmacologyAnti-Bacterial AgentsArticle