Transmission and epidemiology of MRSA: current perspectives.

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium that developed resistance to the penicillin derivative methicillin. Subsequently, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) emerged as a bacterium that became less susceptible to the actions of methicillin and thus developed the ability to colonize and cause life-threatening infections. Globally, MRSA continues to cause hospital-acquired infections which are becoming difficult to treat owing to increasing glycopeptide resistance and the increasing development of community-associated MRSA. Nurses caring for patients in both hospital and community settings should be able to acknowledge the importance of MRSA, the difficulties of treating the bacterium and the need to comprehend and adhere to universal precautions that are important in the prevention of transmission of MRSA.