You say meticillin and I say methicillin

Although not the "highest level" of evidence in the scientific literature, I often find the personal reflections of senior scientists very entertaining and often useful. One of my favorite in the genre was Robert Wise's 1989 reflections on nosocomial S. aureus published in RID/CID.  Barry Cookson has a similar reflection in the October 8 Lancet titled "Five decades of MRSA: controversy and uncertainty continues."

Barry labels each decade of MRSA research and control with interesting titles. For example, the 1970s were the "decade of complacency" while the 1990's were the "decade of dawning realization." He sprinkles in personal anecdotes, etc and echoing what Dan and I wrote in JAMA last year, he ends with a spot-on conclusion:

"However, my major concern is that, with the downturn in the economies around the world and reductions in MRSA, there will be a tremendous temptation to reduce the funding of prevention and control measures. It is vital that policy makers and governments realise that they must continue to spend money to save money. MRSA and other hospital infection pathogens will continue to pose threats to patient safety in the foreseeable future. One thing is certain: the response to these challenges will determine the next decade of research and reaction to MRSA."

Hear hear!

Source: Cookson B, Lancet 2011 (378): 1291-2.