Volume 19, Number 9—September 2013
Etymologia
Etymologia: Staphylococcus
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From the Greek staphyle (bunch of grapes) and kokkos (berry), Staphylococcus is a genus of gram-positive spherical bacteria that commonly cause surgical and skin infections, respiratory disease, and food poisoning. In 1880, Scottish surgeon Sir Alexander Ogston first described staphylococci in pus from a surgical abscess in a knee joint: “the masses looked like bunches of grapes.” In 1884, German physician Friedrich Julius Rosenbach differentiated the bacteria by the color of their colonies: S. aureus (from the Latin aurum, gold) and S. albus (Latin for white). S. albus was later renamed S. epidermidis because of its ubiquity on human skin.
References
- Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 32nd ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 2012.
- Classics in infectious diseases. “On abscesses.” Alexander Ogston (1844–1929. Rev Infect Dis. 1984;6:122–8.PubMedGoogle Scholar
- Orenstein A. The discovery and naming of Staphylococcus aureus [cited 2013 Jul 10]. http://www.antimicrobe.org/h04c.files/history/S-aureus.pdf
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Table of Contents – Volume 19, Number 9—September 2013
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Page created: July 30, 2013
Page updated: August 20, 2013
Page reviewed: August 20, 2013
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