MRSA May Hitchhike on a Common Environmental Amoeba

From The University of Bath:

The MRSA ‘superbug’ evades many of the measures introduced to combat its spread by infecting a common single-celled organism found almost everywhere in hospital wards, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Microbiology. Scientists from the University of Bath have shown that MRSA infects and replicates in a species of amoeba, called Acanthamoeba polyphaga, which is ubiquitous in the environment and can be found on inanimate objects such as vases, sinks and walls. As amoeba produce cysts to help them spread, this could mean that MRSA may be able to be ‘blown in the wind’ between different locations.

Technorati Tags: MRSA, staph aureus, amoeba, acanthamoeba polyphaga