A review of virulence factors, pathogenesis, and antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen associated with serious community and hospital-acquired diseases and has long been considered as a major problem of public health. This potent Gram-positive bacterium is able to bypass all barriers of the host defense system as it possesses a wide spectrum of virulence factors. S. aureus is also one of the prominent pathogens in biofilm-related infections of indwelling medical devices, which are responsible for billions in healthcare cost each year in the United States. S. aureus expresses a large number of virulence factors that are implicated in their pathogenesis. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus infections have reached epidemic levels in many parts of the world. This review describes the virulence factors, pathogenesis, and antibiotic resistance in S. aureus.
Source: Reviews in Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Tags: Bacteriology Source Type: research