MRSA Notes

Well, you know I am not a scientist - and when it comes to talking about PVL (Panton-Valentine leukocidin) my ignorance does indeed show. I was under the impression that this toxin was a result of CA-MRSA, a toxin released by the bacteria in the course of an infection, not a cause of an infection itself, but I guess I had that incorrect. Or maybe I had it right all the time.

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease have determined that PVL is not the cause of CA-MRSA (Community-Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

“The strains were just as deadly with or without the PVL toxin,” says lead investigator Frank DeLeo, of Rocky Mountain Laboratories. “Unexpectedly, the average abscess volume in mice infected with strains absent the PVL was slightly greater than those containing the toxin. The strong association between PVL and CA-MRSA makes the toxin an excellent marker to track community strains, but the assumption that it is the major virulence determinant driving this epidemic is simply not true.”

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