( he ability of S. aureus to evade and de...)Emerging staph strains found to be increasingly deadly and deceptive

"Each day physicians around the world are stymied by the inability to effectively treat patients suffering from severe S. aureus infections," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "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."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "recent reports of 'community-acquired' MRSA infections raise concern ?If MRSA becomes the most common form of Staphylococcus aureus in a community, it will make treatment of common infections much more difficult." The April 7, 2005, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine refers in an editorial to "?an epidemic of MRSA in the community."

S. aureus strains acquired in health-care settings can be challenging to resolve because of antibiotic resistance, which limits the choices for treatment. But the situation can become more serious with the newer community-acquired strains, says Dr. DeLeo. "We do not know why cases of community-acquired MRSA infections are increasing, let alone how they flourish," he says. But scientists do know the community strains can cause more severe forms of disease.

Mild S. aureus infections such as impetigo, which typically forms small blisters on the faces of children, or cellulitis, an inflammation of skin or muscle tissue, can easily be treated and usually resolve in a matter of days. But S. aureus disease also can be much more severe and difficult to treat, affecting vital organs and leading to toxins poisoning the blood and infection overwhelming the heart. One of the most severe types of disease is necrotizing pneumonia, where bacteria destroy lung tissue.

"The reason that some mild infections become severe or fatal is not well understood, but virulence is often associated
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Source:NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases