Genetics Used to Track Transmission of MRSA Bacteria

Jan. 22 -- THURSDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- New technology has made it possible, for the first time, to track the potentially deadly bacteria MRSA around the world or from one person to another, a new study reports.

The ability to track MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) can help scientists figure out how the bacteria mutates and spreads so fast. It also could lead to better ways to control the infection as well as other emerging "superbugs," researchers say.

"This is the first demonstration of a new approach to genome sequencing," Stephen Bentley, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in England and senior author of the study, said during a Wednesday teleconference.

"This is set to revolutionize genetic sequencing in general, and, I believe, a particular impact will be seen with bacteria, and more particularly, those bacteria which cause infectious disease," he said.

The aspect of MRSA that makes it so concerning is that it is resistant to many antibiotics. One theory holds that the bacteria developed in response to the overuse of antibiotics. The current treatment is with an antibiotic called vancomycin, but the fear is that the bacteria could become resistant to this drug, too.

Although MRSA is usually not serious in healthy people, it can cause serious complications, including organ failure and death, if it enters the bloodstream. The presence of MRSA in hospitals is a particularly worrisome occurrence.

The new findings are published in the Jan. 22 issue of Science.

To make their discovery, the researchers used a new method of sequencing DNA, which enabled them to quickly see single mutations in the genetic code of the bacteria and identify differences between closely related strains of MRSA in 62 samples.

"We showed that mutations in MRSA occurred far faster than previously thought," the study's co-lead author, Dr. Simon Harris, also from the Sanger Institute, said during the teleconference.