Experimental MRSA Vaccines Successfully Block Staph Infections, New Study Finds

According to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, experimental vaccines were found to effectively treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, which is a drug-resistant infection found in the skin, soft tissue, bloodstream and lungs.

The study found that two new vaccines used in combination may counteract MRSA’s ability to avoid immune system attacks and may disable the way the staph infection damages tissue. 

Medical professionals have been attempting to develop a MRSA vaccine since the 1960s and have been unsuccessful until now.

MRSA continually resists and adapts to antibiotics and is the leading cause of death from infectious diseases in the U.S. Because MRSA disables the body’s immune system, the staph infection is not eliminated by the body’s natural defenses and flows into the bloodstream, infects various tissues and multiplies.

"Even when the infection can be cleared with antibiotics and surgery, the patient has no immunity, so these infections often recur," Dr. Olaf Schneewind, professor and chair of microbiology at the University of Chicago, said.

This characteristic of MRSA has prevented doctors from developing a vaccine in the past. The new vaccine would use a mutated version of protein A and two types of clotting factors, which would make the spread of infection easier to stop.

MRSA uses protein A to evade attacks by the immune system by preventing the body from making antibodies against the infection. Researchers mutated protein A to allow the body to generate an immune system response, which was previously blocked by MRSA, and build a defense against the staph infection. The protein effectively killed the bacteria, including the USA300 strand that causes 60 percent of staph infections.

"I believe that protein A may be the key to making a staphylococcal vaccine," Dr. Schneewind said.

Although additional vaccine studies are still underway, this vaccine would help an estimated 95,000 people infected with MRSA. Eighty-five percent of those infected with MRSA contracted the infection through healthcare procedures or in a healthcare setting, according to the Center for Disease Control.

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