Staphylococcus aureus News and Research

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Staphylococcus aureus is a spherical bacterium (coccus) which on microscopic examination appears in pairs, short chains, or bunched, grape-like clusters. These organisms are Gram-positive. Some strains are capable of producing a highly heat-stable protein toxin that causes illness in humans.

MRSA study demonstrates need for frequent hand washing and environmental disinfection in health care settings

A major cause of hospital-acquired infections can persist for days and even weeks on environmental surfaces found in healthcare settings, including bed linens, computer keyboard covers and acrylic fingernails

6 Jun 2005

Study of MRSA bloodstream infections in children

The UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA) is to begin a study reviewing bloodstream infections in children caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

1 Jun 2005

Researchers test vaccine to prevent dangerous Staphylococcal infections

Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases researchers are launching a trial for a new vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus. The vaccine, if proven effective, could help curb the growing threat of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an emerging organism rapidly spreading through close personal contact.

10 May 2005

As science gets wiser, so do the bugs

As science gets wiser, so do the bugs. The rates of drug-resistant bacteria infecting patients in the community and in the hospital have been increasing steadily in recent years, according to two new studies in the June 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

9 May 2005

Neutrophils dictate whether our immune system will permit or prevent bacterial infections

New research on a bacterium that can survive encounters with specific immune system cells has strengthened scientists' belief that these plentiful white blood cells, known as neutrophils, dictate whether our immune system will permit or prevent bacterial infections.

5 May 2005

Using X-ray crystallography, researchers have "seen" the structural basis for antibiotic resistanc

Using X-ray crystallography, researchers at Yale have "seen" the structural basis for antibiotic resistance to common pathogenic bacteria, facilitating design of a new class of antibiotic drugs, according to an article in Cell.

22 Apr 2005

Keyboards harbour nasty bugs

A new study has shown that some nasty bacteria can survive and grow for at least 24 hours on computer keyboards and electronic recordkeeping in hospitals and other health care settings and may be spreading more than just information.

11 Apr 2005

Staph superbug now far more common in the community

Two teams of experts are saying that a drug-resistant "superbug" previously only found in hospitals is becoming more common in the community and must be aggressively treated. They say that staphylococcus aureus, or staph, infections that are resistant to methicillin and similar drugs can now be put into the category of flesh-eating bacteria and doctors need to be aware of this and exchange antibiotics at the first sign of trouble.

6 Apr 2005

Nylon strips an effective weapon against the hospital acquired superbug

Nylon strips, beads and hospital stitching thread covered in viruses could be an effective weapon against the hospital acquired superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, according to research presented today (Tuesday, 05 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology's 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

4 Apr 2005

Community MRSA is re-emergence of 1950's pandemic

This "re-equipping and re-emergence" of a clone that caused a pandemic 40-50 years ago could mean that community acquired MRSA will spread faster and be more widespread than previously expected, warns an international team of researchers who have been studying the bacteria.

3 Apr 2005

Newly emerging illness, named staphylococcal purpura fulminans

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a newly emerging illness, named staphylococcal purpura fulminans. The disease begins as a respiratory tract infection, which then is infected by Staphylococcus aureus.

30 Mar 2005

Bacteria's rising threat studied

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

29 Mar 2005

Children sick after zoo visit - Florida Officials investigate

Health officials in Florida report that five children are in a critical condition with kidney failure and may have picked up a rare infection at petting zoos.

28 Mar 2005

Neonatal infections in hospital born babies are up to 20 times higher in developing countries

Neonatal deaths account for over one-third of the global burden of child mortality. Infections are the major cause of neonatal deaths in developing countries. (See The Lancet Neonatal Survival Series, March 2005) Data suggest that unhygienic practices in labour and delivery, and in after-birth care, put babies in the developing world at great risk of infections and death soon after birth.

28 Mar 2005

Drug-resistant bacteria MRSA a growing threat

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

21 Mar 2005

MRSA league figures misleading

The Queen Victoria hospital NHS trust a specialist hospital topped the league table for rates of MRSA infection but attacked the figures as "misleading" claiming they "grossly misrepresent" the hospital's infection control record.

7 Mar 2005

MRSA superbug on the run from Sussex scientist

A groundbreaking new treatment to combat the hospital killer bug MRSA, which is estimated to cause up to 5,000 deaths a year in Britain, is being developed by a University of Sussex scientist.

23 Feb 2005

Bacterial spread all down to chance: some strains 'just the luckyones'

Scientists have discovered that factors such as human immunity and drug resistance are less important to the success of bacterial spread than previously thought.

3 Feb 2005

Isolating intensive-care patients infected with MRSA does not reduce cross-infection

Results of a UK study published online suggest that the widely practised approach of isolating intensive-care patients infected with MRSA does not reduce cross-infection. Authors of the study caution that this finding should not be extended to general hospital wards, and needs further confirmation from larger studies.

7 Jan 2005