MRSA Management

What am I looking at?

This image shows a MRSA bacterium being engulfed by a neutrophil, a kind of white blood cell that’s an essential component of the immune system. The bacteria (1) are yellow and the neutrophil (2) is the blue background that the bacteria are bound to.

Click on the right arrow to see an alternate view of a MRSA infection; in this image, the bacteria are purple.

Biology in the background

MRSA bacteria can cause staph infections in humans and other animals; “methicillin-resistant” (MR) was added to the scientific name of the bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus) because these bacteria have developed resistance to some antibiotics. This resistance can make MRSA infections very hard to treat and therefore more dangerous than other bacterial infections.

Staphylococcus bacteria are present on our skin constantly; however, a healthy immune system can keep them at bay easily. Neutrophils, like the ones in these images, attack pathogens like bacteria and viruses. They are one of the first immune cells to respond when such pathogens invade the body. They can engulf and destroy the invaders and prevent infection. But if enough MRSA bacteria get into a wound, they can overwhelm the immune system and cause an infection; this makes MRSA infections especially dangerous in hospitals.

An average MRSA bacterium is about 10 micrometers across, or roughly seven times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Technique

These images were created using colored scanning electron microscopy.