Background: In children, surveys on Staphylococcus aureus have focused on specific infections, situations or strains but no study has so far given an overview on S. aureus isolation without any selection. Here, we describe the overall bacteriological and clinical characteristics of S. aureus isolation in children, with a special focus on isolates harbouring tst, sea, and/or luk-PV genes, respectively, encoding the three clinically relevant toxins: toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, enterotoxin A and Panton–Valentine leukocidin.

Methods: Data associated with S. aureus isolation were reviewed: isolation site, infection status, tst, sea and luk-PV genes, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, agr typing.

Results: Three hundred and seventy-seven isolates retrieved from 328 children during S. aureus infection (55.2%) or colonization (44.8%) were included. tst, sea and luk-PV genes were amplified in 14.3, 9.5 and 5.8% of the isolates, respectively. These isolates were significantly more frequently retrieved during infection (69.1%) than colonisation but differences were observed according to isolation site. Methicillin-resistance was found in 7.2% of the isolates, 78% of which harboured ≥ 1 of the targeted toxin-encoding genes.

Conclusions: This first comprehensive study of S. aureus in children showed S. aureus to be mainly retrieved during infection and a high rate of colonisation, not limited to the nasopharynx. Predominant infections were skin and soft tissue infections where tst was most frequently detected. luk-PV was most commonly detected during bone and joint infections. Isolates harbouring targeted toxin-encoding genes were significantly associated with infections but a quarter of children were asymptomatic carriers representing a reservoir for dissemination of isolates with virulence potency.