Strategies to fight against extensive drug resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and to establish an effective translational medicine system

HU Juan; WANG Hu

Abstract：The continuous emergence of extensive drug resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pos-es a major health threat to both healthcare facilities and community settings. Community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA), a persistent infectious pathogen, is a significant cause of high morbidity and mortality. Resistance to the entire class of β-lactam antibiotics, as well as acquisition of exogenous virulence genes and/or drug tolerance genes, makes MRSA infections difficult to treat in clinical practice. Recent studies suggest that CA-MRSA isolates are more virulent and transmissible than traditional hospital-acquired MRSA strains, and have extensive drug resistance, leaving only fewer efficient drugs such as vancomycin as treatment options. Al-though progress has been made towards understanding the evolutionary mechanism of CA-MRSA, our knowledge of the molecular events that underlie MRSA epidemic waves, virulence and treatment options remains incomplete. Furthermore, the molecular factors underlying the spread of hospital-and community-associated MRSA strains are still far from being completely understood, a situation calling for enhanced research efforts in that area. Additionally, the current development of effective treatment methods and new an-tibacterials has lagged far behind MRSA evolution. This review focuses on the biological researches, successful clinical cases, and strategies to curb increased multidrug resistance during the 3 recent years, in hope of providing perspective on future outlook for es-tablishment of a translational medicine system to fight against resistant bacteria like MRSA.