Hi everybody, was just reading medscapes question of the day, and thought some of you might like to see it... In what year was methicillin introduced, and how soon after were resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus discovered?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Methicillin was introduced in 1960, and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus were discovered as early as 1961. In 1941, penicillin G was introduced to the medical world. By 1945, researchers had isolated resistant strains of bacteria. Other antibiotics were discovered throughout the 1950s, but bacterial resistance shortly followed. Methicillin, the first beta-lactamase-stable penicillin, was introduced in 1960. A methicillin-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was reported as early as 1961. Resistance has increased over the past 3 decades. Certain studies have reported that up to 30% of the S aureus isolates from patients in tertiary care centers have been methicillin-resistant. These strains of S aureus have plasmids that carry genes conferring resistance to many antibiotics. They are sensitive to the broad-spectrum antibiotic vancomycin. But recently, cases of reduced susceptibility to vancomycin have been reported. Source: MRSA Strikes a Child Care Center. Yours in health, James Allison --- Allisons Apothecary http://apothecary.hypermart.net Home of the $49.95 Colloidal Silver Generator
