FRIDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Recent antibiotic use is associated with a greater risk of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to research presented during the 44th annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Toronto. What's more, a second study found that MRSA was the cause of 17 percent of cases of necrotizing fasciitis.
Kathryn Como-Sabetti, M.P.H., of the Minnesota Department of Health and Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues compared community-associated MRSA cases that occurred in three Minnesota hospitals between 2000 and 2003 with cases of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus infection in the same hospitals.
The researchers found methicillin-resistant infections were more common in patients who had used antibiotics in the previous six months, shared towels and had a history of skin abscesses or family members with a history of skin abscesses. The infection was also associated with socioeconomic factors such as low income and less education, and non-white race.
"Health care providers and the public should be educated regarding the risks of antimicrobial-resistant infections and the importance of judicious antibiotic use," the authors write.
In a related study, Lisa S. Young, M.D., of the University of Colorado at Denver, and colleagues found that in 30 cases of necrotizing fasciitis that occurred from 2004-2006, five were due to community-acquired MRSA. "Community-acquired MRSA is an important cause of necrotizing fasciitis in our region, accounting for more than 15 percent of necrotizing fasciitis," the authors write.
Abstract
Abstract
