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Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a human neutrophil ingesting MRSA. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a group of gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans.
Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often positive for catalase and nitrate reduction and is a facultative anaerobe, meaning that it can grow without oxygen. [1]
ST8:USA300 is a strain of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that has emerged as a particularly antibiotic resistant epidemic that is responsible for rapidly progressive, fatal diseases including necrotizing pneumonia, severe sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis. [1]
Genetic testing, such as via polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA microarray, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification, may be used to detect whether bacteria possess genes which confer antibiotic resistance. [9] [23] An example is the use of PCR to detect the mecA gene for beta-lactam resistant Staphylococcus aureus. [9]
A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR, or qPCR when used quantitatively) is a laboratory technique of molecular biology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR (i.e., in real time), not at its end, as in conventional PCR.
Importantly, S. aureus is generally coagulase-positive, meaning that a positive coagulase test would indicate the presence of S. aureus or any of the other 11 coagulase-positive Staphylococci. [1] A negative coagulase test would instead show the presence of coagulase-negative organisms such as S. epidermidis or S. saprophyticus.
A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the Staphylococcus genus of bacteria.. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasions which may be nearly invisible.
At one time, methicillin was used to treat infections caused by certain gram-positive bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Methicillin is only effective against Staphylococcus aureus 50% of the time.