Prior Antibiotic Treatment in Patients Hospitalized with Skin Infection

Patients hospitalized with skin infections often have already received outpatient therapy. In a secondary analysis of 533 patients admitted for skin infections to seven Colorado hospitals, investigators compared findings and outcomes between 179 patients who had received outpatient antibiotic therapy prior to admission and 354 who had not.

Overall, 60% of patients had nonpurulent cellulitis, 32% had abscesses, and 8% had purulent cellulitis. Among 202 patients in whom a microorganism was identified, Staphylococcus aureus was significantly more common in the outpatient antibiotic group (75% vs. 58%), including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA; 41% vs. 27%). However, aerobic gram-negative bacteria were significantly less common in the out…