Is MRSA more virulent than MSSA?

• Published in: Clinical microbiology and infection Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 843 - 845
• Main Authors: Rozgonyi, F., Kocsis, E., Kristóf, K., Nagy, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Heteroresistant populations; Methicillin - pharmacology; Methicillin Resistance; MRSA; pathogenicity; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcal Infections - epidemiology; Staphylococcal Infections - mortality; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - classification; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Virulence; Heteroresistant populations; pathogenicity; methicillin resistance; virulence; Staphylococcus aureus; MRSA
• ISSN: 1198-743X; 1469-0691
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2007.01780.x

Numerous clinical studies have indicated, based on mortality rates, that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are more virulent than methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains. In contrast, quantitative laboratory examinations of the presence and magnitude of pathogenic mechanisms and virulence factors in strains of MRSA and MSSA have generated conflicting data. The most important reason for these conflicting results is probably the heterogeneic nature of the resistant population. A comparison of selected and congenic MRSA and MSSA sub-populations of the same strain is required to resolve this issue.