Jokinen E, et al. - Researchers here aimed to assess the current spa type distribution in methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) and resistant S. aureus (MRSA) bacteremias and determine the potential association of spa clonal complexes (spaCC) with the clinical characteristics of S. aureus bacteremia. They observed that in MRSA, spa type distribution was less heterogenic than in MSSA. Among S. aureus bacteremias, a single successful strain could explain the major proportion of MRSA . In this work, certain spaCCs showed association with certain clinical characteristics (SpaCC 008 was more often associated with endocarditis than other CCs, spaCC 2133 with skin infections, and spaCC 012 with foreign body infections than other clonal complexes). Findings thereby suggested that S. aureus strains differed in their virulence and invasiveness.