40 years of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7314.644

BMJ 2001;323:644-645 ( 22 September )

Editorials

40 years of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MRSA is here to stay $---$ but it can be controlled

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

S taphylococcus aureus is well adapted to the human body, capable of spreading from person to person, hiding in intracellularcompartments,¹ and, most importantly, inducing various formsof human disease. During infection the bacterial cells producea large variety of virulence factors, among which, for instance,are molecules that subtly interfere with the chemotaxis of neutrophilsto the site of infection.² Adding to the complexity of theinfectious process is the fact that the host also responds ina variety of ways immunologically, sometimes producing a certaindegree of resistance to infection.³ S aureus has remained amongthe top three clinically important pathogens over the past fewdecades, and a particular worry has been the rise of methicillinresistantstrains.

The clinical need for an effective vaccine against S aureus is clear, but since infections caused by S aureus are complexand as yet largely undefined (from the perspective of . . . [Full text of this article]

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