Prevention of Neonatal Staphylococcal Infection

The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) disease in neonatal intensive care units has risen sharply in recent years. Prevention of MRSA infection is of utmost importance given the high virulence and broad antibiotic resistance of this pathogen. A vaccine against this organism would be ideal to prevent infection in high-risk populations such as the premature infant. S. aureus produces a wide variety of virulence factors that function to evade the natural host response to this pathogen, and previous vaccine attempts have been unsuccessful. The objective of this review is to discuss the potential for a vaccine against S. aureus and to examine past attempts at the prevention of neonatal staphylococcal disease. * Abbreviations: CA; : community-associated IgG; : immunoglobulin G MRSA; : methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus PVL; : Panton-Valentine leukocidin VLBW; : very low birthweight