Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) produces specific penicillin-binding protein, PBP2', which shows remarkably low affinities to most beta-lactam antibiotics except those such as penicillin G and ampicillin. The region surrounding mecA has been called additional DNA or mec and is thought to be of extraspecies origin. From the study of mec, we found that mec is a novel mobile genetic element and designated as staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec). There are three types of SCCmec. In the past decades, MRSA has become resistant to many antibiotics, such as carbapenems, new quinolones, and minocycline etc. It seems to be a characteristic of MRSA to acquire multi-resistance by accumulating multiple resistance genes around the mecA gene inside SCCmec.
Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple/physiology* ; Methicillin Resistance/physiology* ; Staphylococcus aureus/physiology*

Antibiotic resistance has evolved over the past 50 years from a merely microbiological curiosity to a serious medical problem in hospitals all over the world. Resistance has been reported in almost all species of gram-positive and -negative bacteria to various classes of antibiotics including recently developed ones. Bacteria acquire resistance by reducing permeability and intracellular accumulation, by alteration of targets of antibiotic action, and by enzymatic modification of antibiotics. Inappropriate use of an antibiotic selects resistant strains much more frequently. Once resistant bacteria has emerged, the resistance can be transferred to other bacteria by various mechanisms, resulting in multiresistant strains. MRSA is one of the typical multiresistant nosocomial pathogens. A study of the PFGE pattern of endonuclease-digested chromosomal DNA showed that MRSA of a few clones were disseminated among newborns in the NICU of a Japanese hospital. In this regard, it is important to choose appropriate antibiotics and then after some time, to change to other classes to reduce the selection of resistant strains. Since the development of epoch-making new antibiotics is not expected in the near future, it has become very important to use existing antibiotics prudently based on mechanisms of antibiotic action and bacterial resistance. Control of nosocomial infection is also very important to reduce further spread of resistant bacteria.
Cross Infection/physiopathology ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Enzymes/physiology ; Methicillin Resistance/physiology ; Staphylococcus aureus/physiology

Pneumococcal resistance has become a global issue during the past three decades. One of the major foci of pneumococcal resistance worldwide is the Asian region including Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. Korea had not been recognized as a focus of pneumococcal resistance until 1995, when serial reports documented the alarmingly high prevalence of penicillin resistance among clinical isolates. Serial reports on penicillin resistance among pneumococcal isolates in Korea ranged from 68% to 77% as of 1995. Multidrug resistance was also noted in 34% of Korean isolates. Penicillin-binding protein profile analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, ribotyping, and fingerprinting analysis of pbp genes showed that antibiotic-resistant pneumococci isolated in Korea were genetically related. Data documented the extensive spread of a resistant clone within Korea and between different countries. Besides the injudicious use of antimicrobial agents or the high prevalence of serotypes 23 and 19, the spread of a resistant clone may play an important role in the rapid increase of penicillin resistance in Korea.
Asia ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple/physiology ; Epidemiologic Methods ; Human ; Korea ; Streptococcus pneumoniae/physiology*

While antibiotic resistance among anaerobes continues to increase, the frequency of antimicrobial susceptibility testing for anaerobes is declining. Because anaerobic infections are often mixed and detailed bacteriology of the organisms involved may take some time, physicians must institute empiric therapy before susceptibility testing results are available. Also, economic realities and prudent use of resources mandate that careful consideration be given to the necessity for routine susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria. Determination of appropriate therapy can be based on published antibiograms; however, since patterns may vary within geographic regions and even within hospitals, it is strongly recommended that each hospital center periodically test their isolates to determine local patterns and detect any pockets of resistance. As a general guide, antibiograms from the last several years of susceptibility testing at the Wadsworth Anaerobe Laboratory are reported.
Bacteria, Anaerobic/physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Human ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Antimicrobial resistance patterns of 913 clinical isolates of Bacteroides fragilis group organisms were monitored during an 8-year period in Korea. In general the resistance rates of the non-fragilis B. fragilis group species were higher than those of B. fragilis for all the drugs tested. The rate of resistance to clindamycin remarkably increased and those to some beta-lactam drugs such as piperacillin and cefotaxime also increased. No isolates were found to be resistant to imipenem, metronidazole, or chloramphenicol. beta-lactam and beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations and cefoxitin were more active than the other beta-lactams. Therefore, these agents may be considered when empirical selection of antimicrobial agents is required to treat severe anaerobic infections.
Bacteroides fragilis/physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Human ; Korea ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Surveillance of resistant pathogens should lead to improved treatment of patients and to a rational use of antibiotics. The process for decision making between microbiology, general practice and health policy is still to be documented with careful studies.
Antibiotics/therapeutic use* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Human

Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria are known to be prevalent in tertiary-care hospitals in Korea. Twenty hospitals participated to this surveillance to determine the nationwide prevalence of resistance bacteria in 1997. Seven per cent and 26% of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were resistant to 3rd-generation cephalosporin. Increased resistance rates, 19% of Acinetobacter baumannii to ampicillin/sulbactam, and 17% of Pseudomonas aeruginoa to imipenem, were noted. The resistance rate to fluoroquinolone rose to 24% in E. coli, 56% in A. baumannii and 42% in P. aeruginosa. Mean resistance rates were similar in all hospital groups: about 17% of P. aeruginosa to imipenem, 50% of Haemophilus influenzae to ampicillin, 70% of Staphylococcus aureus to methicillin, and 70% of pneumococci to penicillin. In conclusion, nosocomial pathogens and problem resistant organisms are prevalent in smaller hospitals too, indicating nosocomial spread is a significant cause of the increasing prevalence of resistant bacteria in Korea.
Bacterial Physiology* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial* ; Hospitals ; Human ; Korea ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Prevalence

Enterococci have emerged as a major nosocomial pathogen and as an ever-increasing problem in antimicrobial resistance. They are ubiquitous in the intestinal flora of humans and animals and inherently resistant to a wide array of antimicrobial agents, and, more alarmingly, they seem to have a potential facility for acquiring new resistance determinants, including beta-lactamase production, high-level resistance to aminoglycosides, and recently, glycopeptide resistance. Collectively, all of these properties make enterococci one of most difficult nosocomial pathogens to treat and control today. The purpose of this review was to examine the epidemiology, the mechanisms, and laboratory detection of resistance of enterococci to the two major groups of antibiotics: aminoglycosides and glycopeptides.
Aminoglycosides/pharmacology ; Antibiotics, Glycopeptide/pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/physiology* ; Enterococcus/physiology* ; Enterococcus/drug effects ; Epidemiologic Methods ; Human

Although there are ever increasing reports of extraintestinal human infections caused by Aeromonads, in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients, respiratory tract infections remain uncommon. We describe a case of aspiration pneumonia in an immunocompetent patient with multiple sclerosis, caused by a community acquired, multidrug resistant strain of Aeromonas hydrophila sensitive only to meropenem. The case highlights the clinical significance of Aeromonas hydrophila as a respiratory pathogen, as well as the community origin of multidrug resistance and the utility of newer carbapenems in such cases.
Adolescent ; *Aeromonas hydrophila/physiology ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Female ; *Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections/drug therapy ; Human ; Pneumonia, Aspiration/*microbiology ; Thienamycins/therapeutic use

We analyzed the fluoroquinolone resistance mechanism of 28 isolates of ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli from patients who received ciprofloxacin as a regimen of a selective gut decontamination. Isolates distinctive by infrequent restriction site polymerase chain reaction (IRS-PCR) were subjected to Hinf I restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and nucleotide sequencing of the quinolone resistance determining region (QRDR) in gyrA. Double mutations in QRDR of gyrA (Ser83 Leu and Asp87Asn) were found from most of the strains. Nucleotide sequencing of the marR locus showed that 18 out of 28 (64%) ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli strains had three types of base change in marR loci: a double-base change at nucleotides 1628 and 1751, or 1629 and 1751: and a single-base change at 1751. However, all the mutated strains showed no tolerance to cyclohexane test, suggesting the mutation in the marR region had no influence on overexpression of the MarA protein. In conclusion, mutation in gyrA was the main mechanism of ciporfloxacin resistance in E. coli from patients with selective gut decontamination. Therefore, mutation in the mar region did not influence the levels of ciprofloxacin resistance in our isolates.
Ciprofloxacin/pharmacology* ; DNA Topoisomerase (ATP-Hydrolysing)/genetics* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics* ; Drug Resistance, Multiple/genetics* ; Escherichia coli/genetics ; Escherichia coli/drug effects* ; Human ; Mutation/physiology