Search

Staphylococcus aureus, a prevalent human pathogen and a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections, is increasingly evolving antibiotic-resistant strains, increasing mortality and morbidity rates. Anti-staphylococcal vaccine research for prevention and treatment has become a priority. Antibodies against specific S. aureus components, toxins, and polysaccharides have demonstrated encouraging results in animal studies regarding protection against colonization or infection. However, human immunization trials have yielded less optimistic outcomes, with no anti-staphylococcal having passed clinical trials up to now. Although multiple formulation attempts triggered strong antibody responses, the vaccines could not effectively prevent S. aureus infections. This article delves into the results of immunotherapeutic strategies against S. aureus in both animal and human studies, discussing the feasibility of adequate immunization approaches against S. aureus in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Staphyloccocus aureus is a conditionally pathogenic bacterium and represents a common cause of skin infections, such as abscesses or respiratory and intestinal infections. An estimated 20% of the human population carries S. aureus for long term. Case presentation: We present the case of a 54-year-old woman who presented to the gynecological examination for menstruation associated with skin rash. Genital clinical and ultrasound examinations were normal. The abdominal and axillary skin examination revealed disseminated tumors with a diameter between 1 and 5 cm with celsiene signs and spontaneous exteriorization of a gray-white creamy liquid and other tumors containing chocolatte-like creamy. The presumed diagnosis was a Staphylococcus skin infection and a possible cutaneous endometriosis. There was collected biological product from the pustules and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated. It was developed the autovaccine for the patient. One month after the administration of the vaccine the pustules were in almost complete remission. Conclusions: Staphylococcus aureus skin infection may have different clinical presentations. In the current situation it was manifested as a papular rash with relapses and spontaneous remissions correlated to the menstrual cycle phases. Thus, the appearance of lesions and the patient history made possible the differential diagnosis with cutaneous endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food poisoning outbreaks comprise a large group of diseases that occur sporadically or epidemic, caused by ingestions of contaminated food with pathogenic microorganisms and / or their toxins. Staphylococcal food poisoning are caused by ingestion of preformed enterotoxins in foods by certain strains of staphylococci, most commonly Staphylococcus aureus and represent one of the most common forms of food toxinosis. In Romania, Staphylococcus aureus ranks second after Salmonella spp., in the etiology of food poisoning, the real incidence of this disease being statistically underestimated. Staphylococcal food poisoning history begins many years before, the first descriptions of diseases, with epidemic episodes arising from the consumption of food, dating from 1860-1880 period. Microorganisms or preformed toxins represents a special threat to public health due to their pathogenicity, facility to spread and their potential as bioterrorism agents. Public health system has a critical role in preventing and controlling food poisoning outbreaks. This involves an active surveillance both locally and nationally, which requires a close collaboration between clinicians, epidemiologists and laboratory physicians [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most important human pathogens, secretes an impressive number of virulence factors that may cause a range of community or nosocomial infections with varying severity as well as toxinoses. The main function of the toxins is to inhibit the host immune response against S. aureus, but each toxin exerts specific biological functions, responsible for particular manifestations. So far there have been identified over 20 staphylococcal enterotoxins that are part of the superantigens family. Staphylococcal enterotoxin B, the most intensively studied of these, is involved frequently in the production of food poisoning. Staphylococcal enterotoxin B is part of the group B of bioterrorism agents classified by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), being easily to spread and difficult to diagnose/identify in the initial stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting intertriginous skin areas of young adults. Although HS was historically defined as an infectious disease, the role of microorganisms in its pathogenesis is now controversial. We investigated the lesion microbiota of a recently diagnosed 24-year-old male patient with axillary HS, who shared features of the metabolic syndrome. The microbiological analysis of the patient's lesion was indicative of colonization with bacteria including aerobes - Staphylococcus (S.) aureus, S. lugdunensis, S. epidermidis, anaerobes - Anaerococcus (A.) octavius, and microaerophiles - Cutibacterium (C.) acnes; this last one was also isolated in monoculture from a patient's healthy skin control sample. In vitro antibiotic susceptibility evaluation revealed Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and highly susceptible S. lugdunensis and S. epidermidis. Profiles of A. octavius and C. acnes showed that both strains were susceptible to Vancomycin, Clindamycin, Doxycycline and Linezolid; the anaerobe was Benzylpenicillin-resistant and Tetracycline and the microaerophile was intrinsically Metronidazole-resistant. We conclude that the intralesional microbial diversity in this case shows low variety of species and similarities to healthy skin microbiota, although the presence of S. aureus, particularly MRSA, S. lugdunensis or C. acnes - frequently involved in chronic skin pathologies - may be relevant for the disease severity. MRSA carriage in the patient's lesion represents a significant epidemiological risk for the healthcare environment. Antibiotic treatment in the early stages of HS should be administered with caution. Extended studies of HS microbiota could identify relevant colonization patterns for the outcome of the disease and offer important keys for selecting personalised, efficient therapeutic schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing burden of invasive biofilm-related staphylococcal infections has led to a dire need for new agents to prevent biofilm formation. Bacteriophages may hypothetically alter a biofilm through several mechanisms, including induction of depolymerizing enzymes and lysis of persistent bacteria. We have assessed the influence of commercially available bacteriophage cocktails on Staphylococcus spp. clinical strains viability and biofilm formation. We analyzed 83 staphylococcal strains from patients consecutively admitted to a Romanian infection reference center from October 2014 through May 2015; the strains were characterized by phenotypic and genetic tools for their resistance and virulence features and for their phyliation. Experiments were performed in triplicate. Methicillin-susceptible strains were significantly more susceptible to all tested phages: 1.7-fold higher susceptibility for PYO, 1.4-fold for INTESTI, 2.9-fold for PHAGYO, 2.7-fold for PHAGESTI and 3.9-fold for STAPHYLOCOCCAL; t030 strains were significantly more susceptible to PYO and INTESTI compared with t127 strains. We identified a significant decrease in biofilm formation in the presence of both low and high PYO and INTESTI concentrations (P < 0.001). In conclusion, Staphylococcus strains from Romania displayed fairly good susceptibility to commercially available bacteriophages. We have also ascertained there is phage-driven in vitro inhibition of biofilm formation, the results potentially impacting prevention of prosthetic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]