Decrease in pediatric S. aureus infections due to MRSA

(HealthDay)—The proportion of pediatric Staphylococcus aureus infections due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus seems to be decreasing in pediatric populations, according to a study published online March 1 in Pediatrics.

Deena E. Sutter, M.D., from the San Antonio Military Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and colleagues examined S. aureus susceptibility data for pediatric patients receiving care in the U.S. Military Health System. They collected microbiology and demographic data for years 2005 through 2014 and examined correlations with antibiotic susceptibilities. Overall, 41,745 S. aureus isolates from 39,207 pediatric patients were included in the study.

The researchers found that over the 10-year period there was an overall increase in susceptibility of isolates to oxacillin; in 2014, over 60 percent of isolates were oxacillin-susceptible. Over the study period, S. aureus susceptibility to clindamycin decreased; there was a decline from 90 to 83 percent in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus susceptibility to clindamycin (P < 0.0001). Over time there was a decrease in the differences in oxacillin susceptibility between U.S. regions.

"Similar to recent trends seen in adults, the proportion of pediatric S. aureus infections secondary to methicillin-resistant S. aureus appear to be decreasing, as is variability in U.S. geographical resistance rates," the authors write. "Increasing clindamycin resistance among methicillin-susceptible S. aureus should raise caution in the use of empirical clindamycin in presumed S. aureus infection."