Deadly strain of MRSA now resistant to a last-line antibiotic used to treat infections

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 22:00 EST, 21 May 2012 | UPDATED: 01:46 EST, 22 May 2012
A deadly strain of a hospital superbug has become resistant to a last-line antibiotic used to treat infections, scientists have warned.
Although it has not spread so far, doctors said 'the risk that MRSA could eventually overwhelm even our last-line drugs is a very serious one' branding it 'a dangerous organism in hospitals.'
American researchers have found since 2002 there have been 12 cases of the antibiotic resistant superbug CC5.

A deadly cluster of MRSA bacteria. A type called CC5 has become proficient at picking up resistance gene

It has become proficient at picking up resistance genes including the one that makes it resistant to vancomycin - the last line of defence for hospital-acquired infections.
Researcher Jim Sliwa said: 'MRSA strains are leading causes of hospital-acquired infections in the United States, and clonal cluster 5 (CC5) is the predominant lineage responsible for these infections.
'Since 2002, there have been 12 cases of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) infection in the United States - all CC5 strains.
'Vancomycin is a key last-line bactericidal drug for treating these infections.'
In the study researchers sequenced the genomes of all available vancomycin-resistant MRSA strains to find what distinguishes them from other lineages and why CC5 is apparently more adept than other strains at picking up vancomycin resistance.
Vancomycin-resistant MRSA strains and other CC5 lineages have some important differences from other types of MRSA, including adaptations that allow them to co-exist with other types of bacteria and may help them take up foreign DNA.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2147653/Deadly-strain-MRSA-resistant-line-antibiotic-used-treat-infections.html#ixzz21f8xUB82