Staphylococcus aureus: Immunopathogenesis and Human Immunity

Considering a large number of pathogen factors that enable high virulence of a microorganism such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), it is essential to see them through the continuous adaptation to the newly acquired mechanisms of the host immune response and efforts to overcome these, allowing the bacteria a perfect ecological niche for growth, reproduction, and location of new hosts. Past efforts to create a vaccine that would provide effective protection against infections caused by S. aureus remained without success. The reasons for this stem from the outstanding adaptability skills of this microorganism to almost all environmental conditions, the existence of a numerous virulence factors whose mechanisms of action are not well known, as well as insufficient knowledge of the immune response to S. aureus infections. This review article deals with this issue from another perspective and emphasizes actual knowledge on virulence factors and immune response to S. aureus.