Macrolide antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) may be due to an active drug efflux mechanism encoded by msrA and msrB

Article History: Received: Apr 20, 2009 Revised: May 6, 2009 Accepted: Jun 12, 2009 methicillin resistance has increased. The efficacy of macrolide antibiotics in the treatment of infections caused by multi-resistant staphylococci makes them the most often prescribed drugs in clinical medicine. How ever, the expanded use of these antibiotics has been accompanied by increased resistance rates among staphylococci all over the world.1,2 Macrolide antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) may be due to an active drug efflux mechanism encoded by msrA and msrB (conferring resistance to macrolides and type B streptogramins only) or may be the result of ribosomal target modification, mediated by the presence of erm genes [erm(A), erm(B) and erm(C)] conferring resistance to macrolides, Short Communication