ARTICLE |
a Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
b Department of Neonatalogy
c Infectious Diseases Service, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas
BACKGROUND. Community-acquired, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections are increasing among children.
OBJECTIVE. Our goal is to describe the clinical presentation of neonatal community-acquired S aureus disease and provide molecular analyses of the infecting isolates.
PATIENTS AND METHODS. We retrospectively reviewed the demographics and hospital course of term and near-term previously healthy neonates,
30 days of age, with community-acquired S aureus infections presenting after nursery discharge between August 2001 and March 2005 at Texas Children's Hospital. Prospectively collected isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type, and the presence of PVL genes.
RESULTS. Of 89 S aureus infections, 61 were methicillin-resistant S aureus; S aureus infections increased each year. Methicillin-resistant S aureus infections increased from 10 of 20 to 30 of 36 infections from 2002 to 2004. Most subjects, 65 of 89, were male. Symptoms began at 7 to 12 days of age for 26 of 45 male infants with methicillin-resistant S aureus. Most infections, 77 of 89, involved skin and soft tissue; 28 of 61 methicillin-resistant S aureus versus 7 of 28 methicillin-susceptible S aureus infections required drainage. Invasive manifestations included shock, musculoskeletal and urinary tract infection, perinephric abscess, bacteremia, empyema/lung abscess, and a death. Maternal S aureus or skin-infection history occurred with 13 of 61 methicillin-resistant S aureus versus 1 of 28 methicillin-susceptible S aureus infections. The predominant community clone, USA300 (PVL genes +), accounted for 55 of 57 methicillin-resistant S aureus and 3 of 25 methicillin-susceptible S aureus isolates.
CONCLUSIONS. Community-acquired methicillin-resistant S aureus is a substantial and increasing proportion of S aureus infections in previously healthy neonates. Male infants 7 to 12 days of age are affected most often. Neonatal community-acquired S aureus infection may be associated with concurrent maternal infection. USA300 is the predominant clone among these neonatal isolates in our region.
Key Words: community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus methicillin resistance infant newborn
Abbreviations: CAcommunity-acquired MRSAmethicillin-resistant S aureus SCCmecstaphylococcal cassette chromosome mec TCHTexas Children's Hospital PVLPanton-Valentine leukocidin PFGEpulsed-field gel electrophoresis CSFcerebrospinal fluid MSSAmethicillin-susceptible S aureus
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
R. M. Fortunov, K. G. Hulten, W. A. Hammerman, E. O. Mason Jr, and S. L. Kaplan Evaluation and Treatment of Community-Acquired Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Term and Late-Preterm Previously Healthy Neonates Pediatrics, November 1, 2007; 120(5): 937 - 945. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
P. N Johnson, R. P Rapp, C. T Nelson, J. Butler, S. Overman, and R. J Kuhn Characterization of Community-Acquired Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Children Ann. Pharmacother., September 1, 2007; 41(9): 1361 - 1367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
Read all P3Rs