MRSA [Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus]

Pathophysiology: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is also called oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is especially troublesome in hospitals, prisons, and nursing homes, where patients with open wounds, invasive devices, and weakened immune systems are at greater risk of nosocomial infection than the general public.S. aureus most commonly colonizes under the anterior nares (the nostrils).

Statistics: The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus carriage and specifically community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus carriage in children and their parents in Israel and to determine the genetic relatedness of these isolates. S. aureus was isolated from 580 of 3,373 (17.2%) individuals screened. The predominant type identified by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was strain ST45-MSSA (25%).

Treatment: Both CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA are resistant to traditional anti-staphylococcal beta-lactam antibiotics, such as cephalexin. CA-MRSA has a greater spectrum of antimicrobial susceptibility, including to sulfa drugs (like co-trimoxazole/trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole), tetracyclines (like doxycycline and minocycline) and clindamycin (for osteomyelitis) but the drug of choice for treating CA-MRSA is now believed to be vancomycin. 

Major Research:
Many antibiotics against MRSA are in phase II and phase III clinical trials.It has been reported that maggot therapy to clean out necrotic tissue of MRSA infection has been successful. Studies in diabetic patients reported significantly shorter treatment times than those achieved with standard treatments.