Recent Developments in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Treatment: A Review

Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Apr 29;11(5):606. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11050606.

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a Gram-positive bacterium that may cause life-threatening diseases and some minor infections in living organisms. However, it shows notorious effects when it becomes resistant to antibiotics. Strain variants of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that have become resistant to existing multiple antimicrobials are termed as superbugs. Methicillin is a semisynthetic antibiotic drug that was used to inhibit staphylococci pathogens. The S. aureus resistant to methicillin is known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which became a superbug due to its defiant activity against the antibiotics and medications most commonly used to treat major and minor infections. Successful MRSA infection management involves rapid identification of the infected site, culture and susceptibility tests, evidence-based treatment, and appropriate preventive protocols. This review describes the clinical management of MRSA pathogenesis, recent developments in rapid diagnosis, and antimicrobial treatment choices for MRSA.

Keywords: antibiotics; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); pathogenesis; superbug; treatment.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research is financially supported by the plan of the Science and Engineering Research Board (Ref: EEQ/2020/000201) New Delhi, India and the Deanship of Scientific Research, Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for research support under project number: *R-2022-109*.