The Changing Epidemiology of Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Presented By
Presented by the Microbiology Section
Speaker: Barry Kreiswirth, PHRI TB Center, Public Health Research Institute
Abstract
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been the most clinically important nosocomial pathogen for the last 45 years; during which time the pathogen has gained resistance to all staphylococcal antibiotics including vancomycin. Unexpectedly, the epidemiology of MRSA changed with the millennium and this hospital restricted pathogen has now aggressively spread in the community. Newly evolved MRSA strains have been reported in Australia, Europe, and across the United States and on each continent a predominant clone has emerged. The U.S. has observed the remarkable transmission of USA300, a clone that has caused an inordinate number of soft tissue infections in healthy pediatric and adult populations. Common among these clones is the presence of the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) and this association has been linked to virulence. In this lecture the molecular epidemiology of community acquired MRSA studies in NJ and NYC will be presented and the role of PVL will be discussed.