The changes of MRSA infections in chronic suppurative otitis media

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the epidemiologic and microbiological characteristics of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) infections ill the otorrhea of chronic Suppurative otitis media (COM) patients. DESIGN: Retrospective Study of patients with newly identified MRSA infections from January 1998 through December 2006. A total of 2773 patients with a diagnosis of COM were included in (his study. An antibiotic sensitivity test wits performed For each isolate. RESULTS: The prevalence of MRSA in COM was 4.9 percent (137 of 2773 patients). The proportion of CA-MRSA rose from 0.7 percent in 1998 to 11.4 percent in 2006. However, the proportion of HA-MRSA did not change significantly, from 0.7 percent in 1999 to 1.3 percent in 2006. All of the CA-MRSA strains identified in our study were susceptible to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX). Rifampin Susceptibility was also noted ill 90 percent of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: CA-MRSA infections have risen dramatically in the past decade. CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA in COM differed in both clinical and microbiological aspects. (c) 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. All rights reserved.