DOI: 10.1126/science.1182395 ISSN:

Evolution of MRSA During Hospital Transmission and Intercontinental Spread

Simon R. Harris, Edward J. Feil, Matthew T. G. Holden, Michael A. Quail, Emma K. Nickerson, Narisara Chantratita, Susana Gardete, Ana Tavares, Nick Day, Jodi A. Lindsay, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Hermínia de Lencastre, Julian Parkhill, Sharon J. Peacock, Stephen D. Bentley
  • Multidisciplinary
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MRSA, Close and Personal

Methods for differentiating pathogen isolates are essential for understanding their evolution and spread, as well as for the formulation of effective clinical strategies. Current typing methods for bacterial pathogens focus on a limited set of characteristics providing data with limited resolving power. Harris et al. (p. 469 ) used a high-throughput genome sequencing approach to show that isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are precisely differentiated into a global geographic structure. The findings suggest that intercontinental transmission has occurred for nearly four decades. The method could also detect individual person-to-person transmission events of MRSA within a hospital environment.

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