Korean J Clin Microbiol.  1999 Mar;2(1):1-7.

Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

• Pai CH
• Kim MN

Abstract

Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin(VRSA) have been reported from Japan, the United States and France Although the isolates are considered intermediately resistant according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards(NCCLS), they are already a cause of a serious concern in the ever worsening antibiotic crisis of today, because they are all methicillin-resistant S. aureus(MRSA) and they are isolated after prolonged and unsuccessful vancomycin therapy. Furthermore, a study in Japan showed a high prevalence of "hetero-VRSA", MRSA strains that are susceptible to vancomycin according to NCCLS, but contain subpopulation of VRSA at the frequency of > or =10-6 and thus can be converted easily to full-blown VRSA upon exposure to the antibiotic. Recent reports from Seoul showed that hetero-VRSA is also prevalent in Korea. This review is to examine the epidemiology, clinical significance, mechanisms and laboratory detection of vancomycin resistance in clinical isolates of S. aureus; and to summerize infection control guidelines recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others for this newly emerging nosocomial pathogen.

Keyword

Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(VRSA); hetero-VRSA

MeSH Terms

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Epidemiology
France
Infection Control
Japan
Korea
Methicillin Resistance
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Prevalence
Seoul
Staphylococcus aureus*
Staphylococcus*
United States
Vancomycin
Vancomycin Resistance
Vancomycin