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Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections in the past decade. The CDC recently reported six clusters of MRSA infection among 44 tattoo recipients.
The clusters, located in Ohio, Kentucky, and Vermont, included 34 primary and 10 secondary cases. All cases were in teens or young adults; most were male (73%) and white (63%). Symptom onset varied from 4 days to 22 days after the time of the tattoo. Four patients were hospitalized; the rest improved with drainage, oral antibiotics, or both. Investigation of these clusters revealed tattooists who possibly had MRSA skin infection, had recently been incarcerated (another risk factor for MRSA), were practicing in …