Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in food and the prevalence in Brazil: a review

• Published in: Brazilian journal of microbiology 2020-03, Vol.51 (1), p.347-356
• Main Authors: da Silva, Anderson Clayton, Rodrigues, Marjory Xavier, Silva, Nathália Cristina Cirone
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brazil; Drug resistance; Food; Food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food handling; Food Microbiology; Food Microbiology - Review; Food processing; Foodborne diseases; Foodborne Diseases - microbiology; Handlers; Health risks; Humans; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Methicillin; Methicillin - pharmacology; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - metabolism; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Microbial Ecology; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microbiology; Mycology; Oxacillin; Oxacillin - pharmacology; Penicillin; Penicillin-Binding Proteins - genetics; Penicillin-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Prevalence; Public health; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Staphylococcus aureus - metabolism; Staphylococcus aureus - pathogenicity; Staphylococcus infections; Toxins
• ISSN: 1517-8382; 1678-4405
• DOI: 10.1007/s42770-019-00168-1

Foodborne diseases (FBD) occur worldwide and affect a large part of the population, being a cause of international concern among health authorities. Staphylococcus aureus can be transmitted by contaminated food, and it is one of the pathogens that most cause foodborne outbreaks in Brazil. Currently, this organism’s ability in developing resistance to antibiotics is notorious; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus —MRSA—is known for its resistance to methicillin, oxacillin, and others. MRSA is one of the leading causes of infections, becoming a major threat to human health worldwide due to the numerous toxins that can produce. At first, the transmission of MRSA occurred in clinical environments; but in recent decades, its presence has been reported in the community, outside the hospital environment, including food and food-producing animals around the world. In this review, information about MRSA was gathered to verify MRSA incidence in the world but especially in Brazil in food samples, food handlers, food-producing animals, and food processing environments. The studies show that MRSA is easily found and in certain cases with high frequency, thus representing a potential risk to public health.