Emergency department management of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a known cause of a variety of illnesses that present to the emergency department, including skin and soft tissue infections, pneumonia, and sepsis. Managing these conditions has become more difficult with the emergence of bacterial strains in the community that are resistant to traditional first-line antibiotics. Emergency care providers need to be aware of the increased prevalence of these resistant bacteria, to understand the characteristics of the infections with which they are associated, and to know the effective antibiotic options for treating these bacterial infections in the emergency department patient population.