Current and Future Approaches to the Prevention and Treatment of Staphylococcal Medical Device-Related Infections

Staphylococci, in particular Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, are a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections. Patients who have a medical device inserted are at particular risk of an infection with these organisms as staphylococci possess a wide range of immune evasion mechanisms, one of which being their ability to form biofilm. Once embedded in a biofilm, bacteria are inherently more resistant to treatment with antibiotics. Despite advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of staphylococcal biofilm formation, medical devices colonised with biofilms frequently require removal. New and novel approaches to prevent and treat biofilm infections are urgently required. In recent years, progress has been made on approaches that include antiadhesive strategies to prevent surface adhesion or production of bacterial adhesins, dissolution of already established biofilm, targeting of biofilm matrix for degradation and interference with biofilm regulation. Several obstacles need to be overcome in the further development of these and other novel anti-biofilm agents. Most notably, although in vitro investigation has progressed over recent years, the need for biofilm models to closely mimic the in vivo situation is of paramount importance followed by controlled clinical trials. In this review we highlight the issues associated with staphylococcal colonisation of medical devices and potential new treatment options for the prevention and control of these significant infections.