Figure 1: Emergence of highly virulent ST398 as a cause of CA-SA infections in China.

(A) Percentage of CA- and HA-SA infections caused by ST398 among adult patients at Renji hospital, Shanghai. See Table 1 for absolute numbers. (B,C) Mouse abscess model with randomly selected isolates of CA-SA ST398 and HA-SA ST239 obtained from the same hospital and during the same time frame. Analyzed were n = 8 mice/group. Abscess development was measured at day 2 after infection. (C) Representative abscesses. (D) Concentration of TNF-α in the blood of animals at the time of euthanasia. (B,D) ***p < 0.001 (unpaired t-test). The empty circle represents the data corresponding to the isolate selected for genetic deletion.