Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Since the identification of the first methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolate in 1961, there is extensive literature on its successful spread in the nosocomial setting, its incremental rise in antibiotic resistance and more recently, its emergence as a community associated pathogen spreading in otherwise healthy populations. Extensive genotyping of S. aureus, including genome sequencing of six MRSA strains, and determining the organization of the staphylococcal chromosomal cassettes that harbor the methicillin resistance gene, mecA, have identified six major pandemic clones that have spread along epidemic waves, consistent with the historic outbreaks caused by penicillin resistant in the 1950s. The current epidemic strain, commonly referred to as USA300, has aggressively spread across the United States causing an inordinate number of skin and soft tissue infections in diverse healthy populations ranging from children to senior citizens. Comparative genomic sequencing of 10 chosen USA300 isolates representative of different types of infections and from different regions of the US revealed the molecular scars of an epidemic strain that is rapidly changing. This lecture will discuss S. aureus epidemic waves and the current emergence of community associated MRSA.
Author: B. Kreiswirth
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
OpenAlex ID: W1984593645