Antibiotic resistance in the staphylococci.

There has been much interest in the media, international as well as national, on the potential for the development of "superbugs' by which is usually meant pathogenic bacteria resistant to all available antibiotics. Two of the genera most often thought to fall into this category are the staphylococci (MRSA or Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and the enterococci (VRE or Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci) and although this article concentrates on the staphylococci the two share much in the way of transmissible genes.