| Summary: | Philosophiae Doctor - PhD === The emergence of virulent and drug-resistant bacterial strains such as methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a global public health burden. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has placed MRSA and vancomycin-intermediate-sensitive S. aureus
(VISA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) on a high global priority pathogens list
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to promote the research and development of novel and effective
antibiotic therapeutic rationales. Uncomplicated S. aureus bacteraemia (e.g., mild skin
infections) may be treatable with the conventional regimens of antibiotics, but resistance
strains of the bacteria (e.g., invasive infections), often persist as a high load of bacterial DNA
in blood, and has been linked to increased mortality in world populations, irrespective of
country or location. Several lines of evidence imply that combinations of vancomycin (a
glycopeptide antibiotic that targets cell wall synthesis) and ß-lactam antibiotics that target the
penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) improve clearance of MRSA bloodstream infections (BSIs).
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