Dr. Christopher J. Harrison might be a bit too casual in his outlook regarding methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ("In Fight Against MRSA, Panic Is Not a Practical Tool," Guest Editorial, January 2008, p. 14).

First, the two most disturbing aspects of MRSA are its resistance to many (and sometimes all) of the standard antibiotics and its production of molecules which puncture and injure the immune cells trying to contain the infection. Regarding the second point, Michael Otto, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has shown that community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) has a considerable amount of phenol-soluble modulin. This complex ...