Characterisation of community methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and their control in remote communities

Funded Activity Summary

Before the introduction of antibiotics Staphylococcus aureus, the golden staph , was the major cause of infections in hospitals. Although the introduction of antibiotics helped control the organism it has gradually acquired resistance until strains have emerged which can only be treated with vancomycin. Consequently staphs have again emerged as a major hospital pathogen. The emergence of these multiply resistant strains corresponded to them acquiring methicillin resistance and consequently they have come to be known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. Soon after the emergence of MRSA the hospitals of Western Australia (WA) developed a policy to prevent introduced MRSA from becoming established in its hospitals. Although this has been successful the policy is now under threat with the emergence of MRSA in remote WA Aboriginal communities. Aboriginals in these communities have a large number of infections which are usually treated empirically. This can result in the selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria if they are present. Consequently, it is planned to regularly screen Aboriginal communities which are known to have a high prevalence of MRSA and recommend antibiotic prescribing which will not select for any resistant staphylococci carried by a person. This is possible because the community MRSA are still susceptible to some anti-staphylococcal drugs. If this program is shown to reduce the prevalence of MRSA in the communities then the program will be extended to other communities. Community MRSA are now being reported from other Australian states and it is planned to study these to see if they are related to the WA strains. The community isolates will be studied to assess their potential to acquire additional antibiotic resistances. As some strains are known to be more of a threat to hospitals than others methods will be investigated to develop rapid methods for detecting them.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $300,777.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Allergy

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Aboriginal health | antibiotic resistance | bacteriology | community methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus | infection control | infectious diseases | typing of Staphylococcus aureus

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