Barry Cookson

TL;DR: Newer and older, phenotypic and genotypic methods for typing of all clinically relevant bacterial species are described according to their principles, advantages and disadvantages and Criteria for their evaluation and application and the interpretation of their results are proposed.

TL;DR: The recommendations are presented in the form of 'basic' practices, recommended for all acute care facilities, and 'additional special approaches' to be considered when there is still clinical and/or epidemiological and molecular evidence of ongoing transmission, despite the application of the basic measures.

TL;DR: This multinational European Union project has established for the first time a European database of representative epidemic MRSA (EMRSA) strains and has compared them by using a new “harmonized” PFGE protocol developed by a consensus approach that has demonstrated sufficient reproducibility to allow the successful comparison of pulsed-field gels between laboratories and the tracking of strains around the EU.

TL;DR: The current burden of MRSA infections in healthcare and community settings across Europe is described and the main threats caused by recent changes in the epidemiology of MR SA are outlined, aimed at identifying unmet needs of surveillance, prevention and control ofMRSA in Europe.

TL;DR: The PVL genes were also detected in isolates responsible for community-acquired pneumonia, burn infections, bacteremia, and scalded skin syndrome, and the remaining PVL-positive isolates were mostly methicillin-sensitive S. aureus with clinical disease.