Detection of etaB gene for the production of exfoliative toxin among clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus

Exfoliative toxins also known as “epidermolytic” toxins are one of the main virulent factor of S. aureus. These extremely specific serine proteases recognize and cleave desmosomal cadherins in the superficial layers of the skin, which is directly responsible for showing clinical manifestation of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome. In this study we have taken 20 clinical isolates of S. aureus and were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity pattern followed by the detection of etaB gene by PCR. We have observed total resistance to penicillin followed by other group of drugs. 10% of our strains were found to have etaB gene. This indicates that these stains might involve in the pathogenesis of scaled skin syndrome.