STUDY OF VANCOMYCIN RESISTANCE AMONG STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) infections with Vancomycin resistance in hospital complexes are a concern, a significant increase in the number of these occurrences is observed since it is one of the last available antibiotic therapy routes available for the treatment of infectious processes bacterium. Thus, this work aims to present the main mechanism of resistance induction of S. aureus to Vancomycin. The research used the databases Medline, Scielo, the electronic site of the Google Scholar databases as well as specialized magazines in the area. Thus, the selected articles showed that in the late 1950s almost half of S. aureus strains were resistant to penicillin, and in the 1970s the first cases of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) appeared; and thus, Vancomycin became employed in such cases. In 1996, the first case of S. aureus with intermediate resistance to vancomycin (VISA) was found. In 2002, the first case of Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) occurred, the latter being the only known to have the VanA gene until then. It was soon discovered that the emergence of this resistance occurred from the transfer of a plasmid with the transposon of the vancomycin resistant vanA, Tn1546 vancomycin (VRE) gene to an MRSA, which already had a plasmid for resistance to gentamicin and production of beta-lactamase. This new plasmid was disseminated to other S. aureus and thus disseminating a new resistance. Thus, the conclusion is that the cycle repeats itself and previously sensitive bacteria become resistant; thus, in this rhythm of emergence of bacterial resistance against antibiotic therapy is worrying, there will be a moment when there will be no antibiotic capable of acting in the fight against bacteria. This shows the need to understand the mechanism of resistance, the discovery of new antimicrobial drugs and the prevention of the spread of resistant microbes.Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin, microbial drug resistance, vancomycin resistance.