Community-Acquired MRSA Infections: Which Antibiotics?

Antimicrobial therapy with agents that are active against MRSA improves outcomes.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin and soft-tissue infections have become commonplace in emergency departments, but no uniform approach to treating these infections exists. In a retrospective cohort study, researchers sought to identify factors associated with treatment failure among 531 cases of community-acquired MRSA skin and soft-tissue infections (cutaneous abscesses, furuncles or carbuncles, and cellulitis) in 492 adult patients at two hospitals in Arkansas from 2003 to 2006.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that 59% of patients were treated with antibiotics that were active against MRSA and 41% were treated with inactive agents. Treatment success rates were significantly higher in pat…

Reviewing Author

Diane M. Birnbaumer, MD, FACEP