MRSA Treatment Too Often Inappropriate

Treatment of MRSA surgical-site and bloodstream infections is often insufficient, especially in community hospitals, even a week after microbiological diagnosis.

The high incidence and lethality of both community-acquired and nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections should be well recognized because of numerous articles in the medical and lay press. But most such reports derive from academic medical centers, not community hospitals. Now, in a cohort study partially supported by industry, researchers have examined the timing, appropriateness, and outcomes of antibiotic therapy for MRSA infections among inpatients at a North Carolina tertiary hospital and eight affiliated community hospitals. The infections occurred between 1994 and 2003. A total of 693 patients were included in the study (129 with surgical-site infections [SSIs] and 564 with bloodstream infections [BSI…

Reviewing Author

Stephen G. Baum, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardClinical Infectious Diseases

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsMedical Letter

Stephen G. Baum, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardClinical Infectious Diseases

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsMedical Letter