One-year surveillance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in health-care setting, Palermo, Italy

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an emerging cause of infections outside of health care settings. We carried out a survey to determine the prevalence and characteristics of MRSA isolates (CA-MRSA, HA-MRSA) identified among in- and outpatients by the clinical microbiology laboratories of four general hospitals in Palermo, Italy during the period February-January 2010. Methods: Participating laboratories performed isolation, confirmed methicillin-resistance by their routine method and weekly sent their strains to the coordinating laboratory at the Department of Sciences for Health Promotion “G. D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, Italy. The isolates were tes…