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0:00
Hi, everyone. My name
is Dr. Sarah Fouch
and welcome to this
short recording where we
will be considering
the infections
caused by the organism
Staphylococcus aureus.
We will also be considering
the virulence factors that
this organism produces in
order for it to be a
successful pathogen.
0:23
Let's think about Staphylococci;
these are gram-positive
organisms.
There are 16 genera
that colonize
humans and they are
round spherical shapes.
Most of them are found on the
skin and mucus membranes.
But if we think about
the most virulent type
of Staphylococci,
we need to think about
Staphylococcus aureus.
Now this is a strain of
Staphylococci that is
associated with the majority
of infections and it's
the only species that
produces the enzyme
called coagulase.
Now Staphylococci produces
really nice gold pigments
when isolated on culture media.
This makes them really
easy to identify.
Now the reason why they produce
these golden colonies is
because they produce
carotenoid pigments.
Now these catenoid
pigments also act as
a virulence factor
so they can actually
break down other bacteria
within the vicinity.
Now if we all sat together and I
swabbed everyone's nose
and cultured the swab,
around about 15-20%
of us would carry
Staphylococcus
aureus up our noses
as part of our normal flora.
It wouldn't cause us any
problems whatsoever.
This is a ubiquitous organism
which means it can
be found anywhere,
so not only will it survive on
our skin and also up our noses,
it can also survive in
the environment as well.
Now if we think about the
hospital environment,
this can be problematic,
so if we think about
methicillin-resistant staph aureus,
actually this is associated with
healthcare-associated
infections and
MRSA can survive on what we call
fomites which are items
such as door handles,
bed linen cupboards
by the side of
the bed and also the
patient's bedclothes.
Staph aureus can be
a problem because
it's easily spread
from person to person.
It not only survives
on our skin,
but it also survives in
the environment as well.
