Description of the situation
19 June 1997
Disease Outbreak Reported
The recently publicised finding of a strain of Staphylococcus aureus showing resistance (or reduced susceptibility) to vancomycin has caused considerable concern, especially since the low level of the resistance means that such strains may be missed in routine laboratory antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Dr Keiichi Hiramatsu of Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan, who described the characteristics of the vancomycin-resistant strain, has provided a summary and a provisional method for detection available on EMC's web site for Antimicrobial Resistance. An account of his findings will be published in Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in July 1997.