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The webinar brought together three expert perspectives on the evolving landscape of Staphylococcus aureus diagnostics and therapeutics and was attended by almost 600 people from over 100 countries.
Dr Pascal Birman opened the scientific programme with an overview of Phagenix’s development of GMP grade bacteriophages for severe S. aureus prosthetic joint infections. He highlighted their biofilm targeting properties, synergy with antibiotics, and encouraging compassionate use outcomes showing around 80% non relapse at three months. He also outlined the new French regulatory pathway enabling structured compassionate access and introduced the forthcoming GLORIA Phase 2 trial, designed to generate robust evidence for intra articular phage therapy in PGI.
Dr Steve Green followed with a session on the role of nanopore whole genome sequencing in MRSA analysis and outbreak investigation. He demonstrated how real time sequencing enables rapid strain typing and transmission mapping, offering faster and more actionable insights than traditional laboratory methods. His talk illustrated how portable sequencing platforms can be integrated into routine workflows to strengthen infection control responses during suspected hospital outbreaks.
The final presentation, delivered by Dr Anne Voor in ’t Holt, focused on outbreak investigations of Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS) in neonatal intensive care units. She described the vulnerability of premature infants to toxin producing S. aureus strains and emphasised the importance of rapid diagnosis and coordinated infection control measures. She described the establishment of a multidisciplinary SSSS expert team to answer questions about, for example, if healthcare workers should be screened - questions which did not include medical or microbiology and infection prevention alone but also included ethical considerations and occupational health issues. Her work underscored the need for swift, multidisciplinary action to prevent future outbreaks in high risk neonatal settings.
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