Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Intercontinental Travel—“Bad Bugs on the Move!”

Abstract

The pace at which newly emerging pathogens spread around the world has been greatly accelerated by intercontinental travel and migration. Every day, thousands of potentially infected human bodies interlink even the remotest parts of our world. As a consequence, the period during which new pathogens remain confined to the population from which they emerged is becoming ever shorter and their containment increasingly challenging. Against this background, there is high demand on the research community to respond to the microbiological aftermath of globalization and to provide knowledge for effective interventions. Although there is a long‐standing appreciation of the role of intercontinental travel in the pandemic spread of clinically overt infectious diseases,1 it was only recently that we learned about its contribution toward the “silent pandemic” of antimicrobial resistance.2 Extended‐spectrum β‐lactamase‐producing bacteria, for instance, use the commensal microflora of travelers to make their way around the globe.3 Obviously, our microbiome closely interacts with the environment at the destination and serves as a vehicle and reservoir for resistant bacteria. Recently, the discovery of New Delhi metallo‐β‐lactamase has drawn a lot of public attention to the link between travel and the global spread of bacterial multi‐resistance.4,5 Since then, the public fears and discussions largely circle around the threat of emerging multi‐resistance in gram‐negative bacteria. For several reasons, however, loss of effective antimicrobials against gram‐positive Staphylococcus aureus will remain high on the global health agenda. First, S. aureus spreads particularly well due to its capacity to persistently colonize the nose. From there, the organism is effectively shed onto the hands, into … Corresponding Author: PD Dr Philipp Zanger, MSc, Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. E‐mail: philipp.zanger{at}uni-heidelberg.de