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Staphylococcus aureus with Heterogeneous Resistance to Vancomycin: Epidemiology, Clinical Significance, and Critical Assessment of Diagnostic Methods

Year: 2003

Type: article

Abstract: The first report of Staphylococcus aureus with intermediate-level resistance to vancomycin (VISA) was from Japan in 1997 (20), raising the threat of incurable staphylococcal infections. Since then, a number of cases have been reported worldwide, with eight confirmed cases in the United States as of June 2002 (9, 13). The majority of these cases have occurred in patients who have had prolonged exposure to vancomycin (13). Furthermore, the majority of these strains appear to have evolved from methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains previously infecting the patient, a conclusion that may be drawn from the similarities observed between the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of the VISA strains and the preexisting MRSA strains (12, 34). Fortunately, since emerging 6 years ago, infection with VISA is still a rare event. However, the phenomenon of vancomycin heteroresistance in S. aureus (hVISA) has been described more frequently in the literature, although the best method to detect hVISA strains and their clinical significance are ill-defined.

Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

DOI: 10.1128/aac.47.10.3040-3045.2003

Authors: Catherine Liu, Henry F. Chambers

Institutions: San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases