MRSA Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRSA, including details on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, hospitals, infection, antibiotic resistance, superbugs.

Re-emergence of early pandemic Staphylococcus aureus as a community-acquired meticillin-resistant clone.

Robinson DA, Kearns AM, Holmes A, Morrison D, Grundmann H, Edwards G, O'Brien FG, Tenover FC, McDougal LK, Monk AB, Enright MC

Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, UK.

During the 1950s, the notorious penicillin-resistant clone of Staphylococcus aureus known as phage type 80/81 emerged and caused serious hospital-acquired and community-acquired infections worldwide. This clone was largely eliminated in the 1960s, concurrent with the widespread use of penicillinase-resistant beta lactams. We investigated whether early 80/81 isolates had the genes for Panton-Valentine leucocidin, a toxin associated with virulence in healthy young people. Multilocus sequence analysis suggested that descendants of 80/81 have acquired meticillin resistance, are re-emerging as a community-acquired meticillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) clone, and represent a sister lineage to pandemic hospital-acquired MRSA.

Published 6 April 2005 in Lancet, 365(9466): 1256-8.
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