Staphylococcus aureus protein A variants, defective in immunoglobulin binding, elicit protective immunity against staphylococcal disease. The present invention includes methods for preventing or ameliorating staphylococcal infections, particularly hospital acquired nosocomial infections. As such, the invention contemplates vaccines for use in both active and passive immunization embodiments. In certain embodiments the vaccine is an isolated recombinant staphylococcal bacteria that expresses a variant Protein A (SpA variant) comprising (a) at least one amino acid substitution that disrupts Fc binding and (b) at least a second amino acid substitution that disrupts VH3 binding variant in at least one of SpA A, B, C, D, and/or E domains.