Skip Navigation
Menu
Ideas and Opinions |1 February 1996

Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Perspectives on Measures Needed for Control

Michael B. Edmond, MD, MPH; Richard P. Wenzel, MD, MSc; A. William Pasculle, ScD

Article, Author, and Disclosure Information
Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
2004
  • From Medical College of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia; and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Requests for Reprints: Michael B. Edmond, MD, MPH, Medical College of Virginia, PO Box 980019, Richmond, VA 23298-0019. Current Author Addresses: Dr. Edmond: Medical College of Virginia, Division of Quality Health Care, PO Box 980019, Richmond, VA 23298-0019.
×
FULL TEXT
Throughout recorded history, humans have been prey to infections caused by virulent strains of staphylococci and streptococci. The advent of the antibiotic era—50 years ago—brought with it great optimism about the control of Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Fortunately, despite five decades of penicillin use, all strains of Streptococcus pyogenes remain very susceptible to penicillin.
The story of S. aureus is more complex. By the late 1950s, almost 50% of all strains were resistant to penicillin. The organism had developed the ability to break the β-lactam ring by producing a β-lactamase referred to as penicillinase. In 1960, however, methicillin—a penicillinase-resistant β-lactam effective for treating penicillin-resistant S. aureus—was discovered. The subsequent availability of oral cephalosporins added greatly to outpatient management of infections caused by this organism.
Methicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci emerged by the late 1970s and have become increasingly more prevalent as nosocomial pathogens. The medical community was comforted by the fact that vancomycin—available since 1958—provided effective therapy for all strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Nevertheless, the emergence of vancomycin-resistant strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci [1, 2] caused concern that such observations might presage similar developments in S. aureus. Adding to these concerns were observations that 1) vancomycin-resistant enterococci caused isolated infections or epidemics in some U.S. hospitals and were becoming increasingly prevalent in critical care units [3, 4]; and 2) high-level vancomycin resistance was experimentally transferred from Enterococcus faecalis to S. aureus in both in vitro and in vivo models [5].
It seems likely that...
FULL TEXT
PDF
Not Available
Citations
Citation

Edmond MB, Wenzel RP, Pasculle AW. Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Perspectives on Measures Needed for Control. Ann Intern Med. 1996;124:329–334. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-124-3-199602010-00008

Download citation file:

© 2019

×
Permissions

Published: Ann Intern Med. 1996;124(3):329-334.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-124-3-199602010-00008

105 Citations

Related Articles
Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin: The Sequel
Annals of Internal Medicine; 115 (9): 739-741
In adults with S aureus bacteremia, adding rifampin to standard antibiotic therapy did not improve outcomes
Annals of Internal Medicine; 168 (6): JC32
Annals for Educators - 1 November 2016
Annals of Internal Medicine; 165 (9): ED9
Familial Clustering of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia in First-Degree Relatives: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study
Annals of Internal Medicine; 165 (6): 390-398
View MoreView Less

Journal Club
In adults with S aureus bacteremia, adding rifampin to standard antibiotic therapy did not improve outcomes
Annals of Internal Medicine; 168 (6): JC32
Review: NAATs diagnose C difficile; vancomycin improves cure, and fidaxomicin reduces recurrence
Annals of Internal Medicine; 165 (2): JC4
Weekly dalbavancin was noninferior to daily vancomycin for acute bacterial skin infection in adults
Annals of Internal Medicine; 161 (8): JC9
Review: Fidaxomicin is better than vancomycin for Clostridium difficile recurrence
Annals of Internal Medicine; 156 (8): JC4-9
View MoreView Less

Related Topics
Infectious Disease

Infectious Disease.

PubMed Articles
Reoperation for device infection and erosion following deep brain stimulation implantable pulse generator placement.
J Neurosurg 2019.
Risk factors and prognostic impact of left ventricular assist device-associated infections.
Am Heart J 2019;
View More

Results provided by: PubMed

CONTINUE WITH LIMITED ACCESS
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×
acp link acp
silverchair link silverchair

Copyright © 2019 American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.

Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

Privacy Policy

|

Conditions of Use

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our privacy policy. | Accept
×

You need a subscription to this content to use this feature.

×
PDF Downloads Require Access to the Full Article.
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×
Access to this Free Content Requires Users to be Registered and Logged In. Please Choose One of the Following Options
Annals of Internal Medicine
To receive access to the full text of freely available articles, alerts, and more. You will be directed to acponline.org to complete your registration.
×