Antibiotic-resist micrococcic infections: guest editorial.

Abstract

The subject of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic strains of Micrococcus pyogenes var. aureus (Staphylococcus) has been studied extensively by many workers since penicillin became abundant and its use widespread. Most of the early studies were confined to the problem of penicillin resistance, but more recently several additional antibiotics have also been extensively employed and the problem of resistance to antibiotics other than penicillin has also received serious study. The increasing incidence of infections with micrococci that are resistant to many and sometimes to all of the most widely used agents on which reliance must be placed to combat such infections has, of course, caused much concern and has been the subject of many reviews and editorial comments in many leading medical journals, includingThe Journal. 1 It has been pointed out by many workers, and on the basis of numerous studies, that the major problem of penicillin-resistant micrococci is one