Abstract

A frequent and significant human pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus has a wide range of virulence factors and a clinical spectrum of disease. In children from Australia and New Zealand, it is one of the most common causes of bacteraemia in the post-conjugate pneumococcal vaccine era. It is also the main cause of childhood skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), osteomyelitis, and infective endocarditis. Antimicrobial resistance to S. aureus has dramatically changed over time and by place. Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) continues to be the principal cause of bacteraemia, despite the fact that community and hospital clones of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) have appeared in Australia. There are important knowledge gaps in the molecular epidemiology of MSSA and the virulence factors in children. This lack of data emphasises how crucial ongoing national molecular surveillance systems are similar to the government-funded Australian Staphylococcal Sepsis Outcome Program (ASSOP) run by the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance for S. aureus bacteraemia (SAB) across the life course.