Staphylococcus aureus

Background

• Staphylococcus aureus is the main coagulase-positive staphylococcus, a gram-positive bacteria
• Sub-types are:
  • Staph. aureus MSSA
  • Staph. aureus MRSA
  • Staph. aureus CA-MRSA

• Always consider a blood culture positive for Staphylococcus aureus to be true bacteremia (and not a contaminant) due to the danger of delaying treatment

Disease Processes

Main Staphylococcus aureus infections
Type	Examples
Localized skin infections	Skin and Soft Tissue Infection Impetigo
Deep, localized infections	Acute and chronic osteomyelitis Septic Arthritis Other musculoskeletal system (e.g. disks)
Other infections	Endocarditis Sepsis Pneumonia Infection of prosthetic material (catheters, orthopedic hardware, endovascular grafts, ventriculoperitoneal shunts, etc.)
Toxinoses	Toxic Shock Syndrome Gastroenteritis Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome

See Also

• Microbiology (Main)
• Staphylococcus

References

Authors

Ross Donaldson