Resistance to glycopeptide antibiotics in Staphylococcus aureus : An emerging problem ?

To date, no strains of Staphylococcus aureus fully resistant to vancomycin or teicoplanin have been reported, though the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for teicoplanin are rising as a result of exposure to the antibiotic. This resistance is constitutive. Genes which confer inducible resistance with high MIC levels are found in the enterococci and are capable of conjugative transfer to S. aureus under conditions that mimic those encountered in nature. Enterococci and staphylococci share other resistance determinants and there seems no reason to suppose that staphylococci will not eventually acquire and express high-level vancomycin resistance.