Outbreak of skin infections sheds light on risk factors for bacterial ...( -causing S. aureus from a medical cente...),Health

-causing S. aureus from a medical center in the outbreak region. Of these specimens, 113 were methicillin-resistant and 81 were methicillin-susceptible. Genes for the potently cytotoxic Panton-Valentine leukocidin virulence factor were present in 110, or 97%, of the isolates of MRSA, compared with none of the methicillin-susceptible isolates (p<0.001).

Dr. Hennessy and colleagues concluded that use of antibiotics facilitated the genetic selection of methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus expressing the Panton-Valentine leukocidin virulence factor. In other words, the combination of methicillin resistance and Panton-Valentine leukocidin may have provided the strain with characteristics favoring a furunculosis outbreak.

In response to the outbreak, the researchers educated local health care providers about the emergence of MRSA as the predominant skin pathogen in their community and developed treatment guidelines that emphasize reserving antibiotics for severe infections only. The researchers believe their findings on risk factors for MRSA infections may be generalized to other parts of the United States and the world where incidence of community-onset MRSA is increasing, and highlight the ongoing challenge of antibiotic-resistant pathogens to public health.

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Contact: Diana Olson
dolson@idsociety.org
703-299-0201
Infectious Diseases Society of America
22-Apr-2004

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