Journal
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 215-222Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro2508
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Wellcome Trust, UK
- UK University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust-University College London Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remains very difficult to treat, and a large proportion of cases result in potentially lethal metastatic infection. Unpredictable and persistent bacteraemia in the face of highly active, usually bactericidal antibiotics is the strongest predictor of death or disseminated disease. Although S. aureus has conventionally been considered an extracellular pathogen, much evidence demonstrates that it can survive intracellularly. In this Opinion article, we propose that phagocytes, and specifically neutrophils, represent a privileged site for S. aureus in the bloodstream, offering protection from most antibiotics and providing a mechanism by which the bacterium can travel to and infect distant sites. Furthermore, we suggest how this can be experimentally confirmed and how it may prompt a change in the current paradigm of S. aureus bacteraemia and identify better treatment options for improved clinical outcomes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available