Description
Staph infections: toxins, biofilms, and antibiotic resistance
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are the leading cause of morbidity and death during hospital-associated infection. S. aureus infections are particularly problematic when these bacteria are resistant to antibiotics; and resistance to methicillin and similar antibiotics is especially widespread among them (methicillin-resistant S. aureus, MRSA). Furthermore, some MRSA strains have now become so virulent that they can also successfully infect healthy people outside of the hospital. Moreover, many S. aureus strains form sticky agglomerations, called biofilms, during infection, which adds general resistance to antibiotics and immune defenses to the frequently already drug-resistant bacteria. This lecture will present S. aureus and MRSA epidemiology and discuss mechanisms of virulence and antibiotic resistance that makes these bacteria an enormous problem for public health systems all over the world.
