Next-generation anti-Staphylococcus aureus vaccines: A potential new therapeutic option for atopic dermatitis?

Disease severity in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) isdirectly correlated with colonization by Staphylococcus aureus.1 An increasing body of evidence now also supports a role for Saureusin the pathogenesis of AD in genetically susceptible sub-jects.2 Increased prevalence of S aureus preceding and coinciding with AD onset in an infant cohort suggests that early skin colonization can contribute to the development of clinical AD.3 However, these findings only partially explain the complex role of this organism given that another birth cohort 4 did not demonstrate Saureuscolonization before development of infantile AD but did show a protective effect of commensal staphylococci against later development of AD