beta-lactam antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

beta-lactam antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

A term of little recent use referring to the mechanism of antibiotic resistance—production of beta-lactamase by Staphylococcus spp—rather than to the antibiotic (methicillin) in which this resistance was first recognised. Bacteria resistant to meticillin are often also resistant to nafcillin and oxacillin, and respond poorly to cephalosporins.