Abstract
To report the frequency of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and to compare the antimicrobial resistance patterns between community-acquired (CA) and nosocomial (NI) strains stratified for resistance to methicillin, this retrospective study on patients under 20 years of age was conducted from April 1995 to December 2005 in a pediatric teaching hospital in Salvador, Brazil. Of 308 S. aureus strains isolated, 185 (60.1%) were reviewed, out of which 125 (67.6%) and 55 (29.7%) had CA or NI infection, respectively, and 5 were defined as colonization. Out of the nine patients with MRSA initially diagnosed as CA, three were excluded from the analysis because of report of hospitalization during the previous year. Resistance to methicillin was more frequent among NI (30.9% vs. 4.9%, p < 0.001). Resistance to other antimicrobials was more common among NI-MRSA compared with CA-MRSA. Although at a low rate, CA-MRSA has occurred among children, in this region.