Health
Community-acquired staph tougher than hospital-acquired
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 26, 2005
Drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus caught in the community is more lethal and better at evading the immune system than its cousin, which is transmitted in the hospital setting, according to a paper published in the Sept. 15 Journal of Immunology.
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont., studied how various strains of the bacteria behaved in mice. The community-acquired version was more capable of evading the neutrophils that typically ingest harmful bacteria and make up 60% of a human's supply of white blood cells. Scientists also detected several genetic differences that could play a role in the virulence of this bug. The hope is that further understanding of these genes will lead to more effective medical treatments.
"There is a critical need to develop new treatments against late-stage disease caused by antibiotic-resistant strains, and this promising work offers several new approaches," said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, MD.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/09/26/hlbf0926.htm.
