Public Housing and Public Health: CA-MRSA in Chicago

Incarceration and exposure to certain public housing complexes increased risk for CA-MRSA skin and soft tissue infections.

Learning more about patterns of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) spread is important to developing community-based control measures. Researchers in Chicago performed surveillance for community-associated S. aureus skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) at a 464-bed public hospital and more than 100 affiliated clinics. They also performed a case-control study, using cases and controls from September 2001 through August 2004, to examine risk factors for CA-MRSA SSTIs.

From January 2000 through August 2005, 971 of 2346 community-associated S. aureus SSTIs (41%) were caused by MRSA. The incidence of CA-MRSA SSTI in the catchment population increased from 24 to 164 cases per 100,000 people. During the sa…

Reviewing Author

Daniel J. Diekema, MD, MS