Clinical predictors of community-genotype ST72-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-SCCmec type IV in patients with community-onset S. aureus infection

Community-genotype methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones have emerged in the community worldwide and recently have been spreading into the hospitals. To identify predictors of sequence type 72-MRSA-SCCmec type IV (ST72-MRSA-IV) in patients with community-onset (CO) S. aureus infection, a casecontrol study was conducted among CO S. aureus infections, including healthcare-associated infections. Eighty-four patients with CO infections caused by ST72-MRSA-IV strains in Korea between 2007 and 2009 were selected as cases. Members of the control group were those with CO methicillin-susceptible S. aureus infections and they were matched by the admission date in a 1:1 ratio. The most common type of infection was skin and soft tissue infection in both groups (48.8 versus 52.4), followed by pneumonia. Female sex (OR 2.55, 95 CI 1.305.04), severe sepsis or septic shock (OR 3.05, 95 CI 1.098.55), prior hospitalization within the previous year (OR 2.18, 95 CI 1.104.32) and surgical site infection (SSI) (OR 4.63, 95 CI 1.3815.59) were associated with ST72-MRSA-IV infections in multivariate analyses. Female sex, SSI, severe sepsis or septic shock and prior hospitalization within the previous year were predictors of ST72-MRSA-IV among patients with CO S. aureus infection.