Esayas Tekle*, Yonas Adisu, Sisay Teferi and Gemechu Tiruneh
One of the most well-known human pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, causes infections ranging from life-threatening conditions including sepsis, necrotizing pneumonia and, endocarditis to benign superficial skin infections. It was formerly thought to be an extracellular bacterium. However, it has been demonstrated that this pathogen can live and dwell inside cells. These features allow the pathogen to survive periods of antibiotic treatment or pressure from the immune system of the host and further enable it to start the infection once again after the environmental stress declines. Such characteristics are considered properties of Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants. Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants are often difficult to recognize due to the fact that they are endowed with unusual metabolic, physiological, and morphological characteristics that will cause difficulties for the routine diagnostic laboratory. As a result, they are associated with persistent infections.
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Clinical Infectious Diseases: Open Access received 49 citations as per Google Scholar report
