The Emergence of Drug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection and Recent Advances in Treatment Options

Dear Colleagues,

Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative pathogen that can cause a wide range of diseases, from mild infections of the skin and soft tissues to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, septicemia, and endocarditis. In addition, it is highly successful in acquiring drug resistance. Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered and was widely used until 80% of S. aureus acquired penicillin resistance. The first semisynthetic penicillinase-resistant penicillin, called 'methicillin', was introduced in 1959 to address this problem. However, within two years, in 1961, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was reported. Soon, Penicillin-resistant S. aureus was replaced by hospital-acquired MRSA strains. Some clones of MRSA led to an MRSA epidemic that rapidly spread throughout Europe. Along with the introduction of new antibiotics, new waves of MRSA strains appeared. In early 2000, a new version of the MRSA strain, known as community MRSA (CMRSA), emerged.  Vancomycin was introduced as a last-resort drug to cope with these new MRSA waves. However, vancomycin-intermediate-resistant (VISA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) emerged soon. This bug has successfully overcome every new antibiotic introduced so far. Moreover, all vaccines and therapeutic efforts against this bug have failed clinical trials. Hopefully, the continuous efforts using novel approaches will result in more effective classes of anti-MRSA drugs. This Special issue aims to track the emergence and mechanism of new antibiotic resistance in S. aureus along with the recent advancements and progress in drug development.

Dr. Rajan P. Adhikari
Guest Editor

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