Vancomycin-resistant MRSA strains isolated from a Brazilian patient
The April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine published a report on the isolation of a methicillin-resistant strain of S. aureus, which has proven to be the world's first strain not only resistant to methicillin, but also vancomycin.
The April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine published a report on the isolation of a new strain of resistant microorganism. In a patient from Brazil, a strain resistant to methicillin S was isolated from the blood. aureus (MRSA), which has proven to be the first strain of Staphylococcus aureus in the world, resistant not only to methicillin, but also to vancomycin. Scientists believe that this multidrug-resistant mutant may pose a great threat if the resistance gene easily spreads to other microorganisms, often causing infectious diseases.
This genetic variant can spread very quickly under conditions acquired in the community, which makes us fear the possible consequences of the wide spread of this multiresistant mutant. Since vancomycin is not an expensive drug and is effective in treating infections caused by MRSA, the loss of this antibiotic, which is the drug of choice, can cause significant economic damage to the health system in the whole world.
According to Professor Weber (David Weber, University of North Carolina School of Public Health), other resistant microorganisms can pose a more serious threat. Professor Weber therefore estimates that if you assess the importance of this pathogen on a 10-point scale (10 is the most serious threat), this strain of MRSA will only receive 2 or 3 points. There are 2 reasons for this - (1) the microorganism has not yet spread to other patients and (2) it remains sensitive to a number of antibiotics.
Infections caused by strains resistant to methicillin S. aureus, are diagnosed each year in 53 million patients worldwide. In the United States alone, MRSA infections kill 20,000 people each year - more than HIV infection. If the MRSA strain is resistant to vancomycin, it can be even more deadly.
In the case described, in a 35-year-old man from Sao Paulo (Brazil), the infection started as cellulitis in the legs and then became complicated with bacteremia. The patient died. Resistance developed in the hospital. This patient was hospitalized and treated on an outpatient basis for a long time. The patient suffered from various infectious diseases during the year. Repeated antibacterial therapy may have taken time and contributed to the development of resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The only thing that distinguishes this case from the others is the occurrence of bacteremia, that is, penetration of the pathogen into the blood and development of the most aggressive course of the disease.
It is only natural that this case will require more careful surveillance of S. aureus resistance in the future, not only in South America, but worldwide.
Carbapenemore resistant microbial strains of the Enterobacteriaceae family are more dangerous than MRSA vancomycin resistant due to a potentially dangerous result and the absence of effective antibiotics. Multi-resistant Gram-negative microorganisms, experts say, are much more important than MRSA, or even resistant to vancomycin.