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To many clinicians, cutaneous infections have appeared to be more frequent in recent years, and, with the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as a major cause, they also appear to be more severe. To examine the validity of these impressions, the authors of this study used national databases to enumerate visits made by patients with skin and soft-tissue infections to physicians’ offices, hospital outpatient departments, and emergency rooms from 1997 to 2005.
During that period, the number of visits did indeed rise, principally from 2001 to 2004, and primarily in the category “abscess/cellulitis.” This increase affected all age groups, but especially patients younger than 18 years; other subgroups seeing increases w…