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Origins of a Superbug: Aberdeen & MRSA The bacteria Staphylococcus aureus was first discovered by Sir Alexander Ogston, a surgeon working at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in the late 1870s. At the time his work was received with huge concern, with the editor of the British Medical Journal asking “can anything good come out of Aberdeen?”! S. aureus has since become recognised as one of the most important species of disease-causing bacteria in humans. Through a process of natural selection many strains of S. aureus have now developed resistance to antibiotics, turning them into superbugs. They are commonly referred to under the umbrella name Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus, or MRSA. While present normally on the skin, nose and throat, if any form of MRSA gets into the blood stream it can cause serious and hard-to-treat infection, and is responsible for several hundred deaths in the UK every year and many more elsewhere in the world. Infection by MRSA can be prevented by taking simple measures including regular hand washing, maintaining clean sanitation facilities, keeping fingernails short and clean, and avoiding sharing of unwashed towels and personal items such a razors, nail files and hairbrushes. The University of Aberdeen undertakes many different types of research, from microbiology to public health interventions, to support the global fight against infections, so building on the legacy of Professor Ogston’s crucial discovery. www.soapboxcollaborative.org Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/mrsa.shtml; Newsom, S. (2008) Ogston’s Coccus. Journal of Hospital Infection 70(4): 369-372; http://mrsaactionuk.net/pottedhistoryMRSA.html; ttp://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/MRSA/Pages/Introduction.aspx