What Is Staphylococcus Epidermidis Bacteria?
Staphylococcus epidermidis is a perfectly round bacterium of the genus Staphylococcus and the family Staphylococcaceae that grows in clusters and usually lives on human skin. It was described by Rosenbach in 1884 and was originally named Staphylococcus albus. Staphylococcus epidermidis does not keep the violet dye when stained by Gram's method (gram-negative) and nearly all strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis do not produce the enzyme coagulase, which induces coagulation (i.e., causes thickening). Staphylococcus epidermidis grows by aerobic respiration (converting oxygen to carbon dioxide) or by fermentation (splitting complex organic compounds into simple substances).
Other People Are Reading
-
Illness
-
Most strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis do not cause illness and it is theorized that some strains may even have a beneficial role for humans. When Staphylococcus epidermidis does cause illness, it is frequently in a hospital setting. It can cause infection on biomaterials such as catheters, prosthetic valves, cerebrospinal fluid shunts, joint prosthesis, vacular prosthesis, postoperative wounds and venous catheters.
Symptoms
-
Because Staphylococcus epidermidis can cause infection in such a wide variety of locations in the body, symptoms of infection are partially dependent on where the infection is. Some symptoms that may be common to all Staphylococcus epidermidis infections include fever, fatigue, pain or tenderness at the site of an implant, rapid breathing, rapid heart beat and sweating.
-
Biofilm
-
Many strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis that cause illness produce a slime that can form a biofilm. This biofilm allows the bacteria to stay on biomaterials and helps the bacteria resist the immune system and many antibiotics and antimicrobials.
Resistance
-
Staphylococcus epidermidis is resistant to many antibiotics, including methicillin, all penicillins, penems, carbapanems and cephalosporins. This resistance often results in biomaterials mentioned under "Illness" needing to be removed.
Study
-
Staphylococcus epidermidis is studied differently depending on what type of laboratory is studying it. Clinical laboratories typically test for the sensitivity to different antibiotics and look at biotypes, plasmid profiles, and slime production. Research laboratories typically look at the phage type and the antigens the bacteria produces and use restrict enzyme analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization.
-
