The optimism of the early period of antimicrobial discovery has been tempered by the emergence of bacterial strains with resistance to these therapeutics. Today, clinically important bacteria are characterized not only by single drug resistance but also by multiple antibiotic resistance--the legacy of past decades of antimicrobial use and misuse. Drug resistance presents an ever-increasing global public health threat that involves all major microbial pathogens and antimicrobial drugs.

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Antibacterial resistance worldwide: causes, challenges and responses.

Staphylococcus aureus is notorious for its ability to become resistant to antibiotics. Infections that are caused by antibiotic-resistant strains often occur in epidemic waves that are initiated by one or a few successful clones. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) features prominently in these epidemics. Historically associated with hospitals and other health care settings, MRSA has now emerged as a widespread cause of community infections. Community or community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) can spread rapidly among healthy individuals. Outbreaks of CA-MRSA infections have been reported worldwide, and CA-MRSA strains are now epidemic in the United States. Here, we review the molecular epidemiology of the epidemic waves of penicillin- and methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus that have occurred since 1940, with a focus on the clinical and molecular epidemiology of CA-MRSA.

/pdf/waves-of-resistance-staphylococcus-aureus-in-the-antibiotic-b9yue6zc99.pdf

Waves of resistance: Staphylococcus aureus in the antibiotic era

Strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which had been largely confined to hospitals and long-term care facilities, are emerging in the community. The changing epidemiology of MRSA bears striking similarity to the emergence of penicillinase-mediated resistance in S. aureus decades ago. Even though the origin (hospital or the community) of the emerging MRSA strains is not known, the prevalence of these strains in the community seems likely to increase substantially.

/pdf/the-changing-epidemiology-of-staphylococcus-aureus-55z4437y1y.pdf

The changing epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(06)68853-3.pdf

Emergence and resurgence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as a public-health threat

STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS is one of the most versatile human pathogens. In the late 1930s, sulfonamides offered the first challenge to S. aureus, but they failed because of their poor clinical performa...

Rozwadowska-Dowzenko M

Papers

Infection with penicillin resistant staphylococci