What types of antibiotic resistance have been identified?

MRSA - Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

• These bacteria have become resistant to methicillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, imipenem, and cephalosporins, which are the usual antibiotics used to treat Staphylococcus aureus infections. As a result, more toxic and expensive antibiotics (eg. vancomycin) must be used instead

VRE - Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus

• Strains that have developed resistance to many commonly used antibiotics, but more specifically vancomycin, which is usually the last line of defence against these infections.
• Enterococci are common bacteria that occur naturally in our bowels, but may become harmful if the body is already weakened from illness (eg. prevalent in hospitals)

PR - Penicillin Resistance

• Bacteria resistant to the effect of penicillin
• Historically, Streptococcus pneumoniae was uniformly susceptible to penicillin (bacteria responsible for meningitis, pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis, and bacteremia in adults and children)
• This constitutes a serious problem among the elderly, infants, and those with chronic underlying medical conditions or immune systems that are already compromised