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Pathogen Page

Staphylococcus aureus

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Staph infections

3. Introduction

Staphylococcus aureus is a facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive coccus and is the most common cause of staph infections. It is frequently part of the skin flora found in the nose and on skin. S. aureus can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections, such as pimples, impetigo, boils (furuncles), cellulitis folliculitis, carbuncles, scalded skin syndrome, and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS), chest pain, bacteremia, and sepsis. Its incidence is from skin, soft tissue, respiratory, bone, joint, endovascular to wound infections. It is still one of the five most common causes of nosocomial infections, often causing postsurgical wound infections (Wiki: S. aureus).

4. Microbial Pathogenesis

The initial critical event in most staphylococcal infections is the ability of bacteria to adhere to components within host tissues (Nilsson et al., 1998).

5. Host Ranges and Animal Models

S. aureus can survive on domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, and horses, and can cause bumblefoot in chickens. It is also a common commensal of human skin (Wiki: S. aureus). Mice are used as an animal model of infection (Senna et al., 2003).

6. Host Protective Immunity

In general, protection against S. aureus infection is attributed to intact epithelial and mucosal barriers and normal cellular and humoral responses (Nilsson et al., 1998).

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