Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors and disease

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of nosocomial infections worldwide, especially methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Patients subjected to broad-spectrum antibiotics and immunosuppressive therapies have higher risk of infection by this microorganism. S. aureus infection are often extremely difficult to treat due to the large population heterogeneity, phenotypic switching, intra-strain diversity, hypermutability and most importantly the small colony variants. It is very important to emphasise that host immune responses against persistent infections by S. aureus is insufficient resulting normally into chronic infections, which in turn can lead to life threatening situations. So, throughout this chapter we will focus on the principal aspects of S. aureus virulence will be focused.