Receive Updates
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Although declining, MRSA rates in United States remain higher than in other developed nations
BACKGROUND
Staphylococcus aureus is a common Gram-positive bacteria that can cause skin and soft-tissue infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) outbreaks have been a growing public health concern since the 1960s, and in the late 2000s, MRSA mortality rates in the United States exceeded the combined death toll of AIDS, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B. Historically, MRSA was hospital-associated (HA-MRSA) but the incidence of community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections has been growing since the 1990s. The two types of infections exhibit significant genotypical, epidemiological, and clinical differences.
The increase in MRSA levels through the mid-2000s has been observed in other surveillance studies and has been associated with the rapid growth in the prescribing of certain broad-spectrum antibiotics. The slower growth of resistance can be attributed to CA-MRSA catching up with and replacing hospital-associated strains. The general leveling off of MRSA rates since the mid 2000s may be due to declining rates of health care–associated MRSA. The reasons for the decline are not fully understood but have been linked to growing awareness and improved infection control.
U.S. RESISTANCE IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
RESISTANCE BY U.S. CENSUS DIVISION, 1999-2010
