Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin--United States, 1997.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of both hospital- and community-acquired infections worldwide, and the antimicrobial agent vancomycin has been used to treat many S. aureus infections, particularly those caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). In 1996, the first documented case of infection caused by a strain of S. aureus with intermediate levels of resistance to vancomycin (VISA; minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC]=8 microg/mL) was reported from Japan. This report describes the first isolation of VISA from a patient in the United States, which may be an early warning that S. aureus strains with full resistance to vancomycin will emerge.