Report from the 2006 IDSA Meeting

Abstract

The 2006 meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) featured a number of presentations relevant to HIV care, with the most notable focused on community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Community-Acquired MRSA Characterized as “the convergence of virulence and resistance,” CA-MRSA received much attention at IDSA this year. Resistance to methicillin and other β-lactam drugs in CA-MRSA is mediated by a small mobile genetic element (SCC mec IV) that differs from the element responsible in hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA). Virulence of MRSA strains is correlated with production of the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin. Previous studies have shown that CA-MRSA is substantially more likely to result in symptomatic disease among patients who were previously colonized with HA-MRSA than among those who were not. In addition, CA-MRSA strains are more likely to infect patients who were previously colonized with community-acquired methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strains. High …