invasive community-acquired staphylococcus aureus among pediatric population of eastern iran.

background and objective: community-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus ( ca-mrsa) is increasingly reported worldwide. we aimed to determine the frequency of invasive ca-mrsa in children admitted to the pediatric wards of imam reza and ghaem hospitals of mashhad, iran. materials and methods: in this retrospective study, data regarding s. aureus isolates from pediatric patients’ sterile body sites (i.e. blood‚ joint, bone and lymph node aspiration) were retrieved in a time period from march 2006 to march 2012. disc diffusion data was analyzed to determine the resistance pattern of the isolates, and differentiation between community- acquired and nosocomial s. aureus was done according to cdc guidelines. results: twenty three invasive community-acquired s. aureus isolates from sterile body sites were identified, of which seventeen (74%) were ca-mrsa. the ca-mrsa isolates showed high frequency of resistance to non-β-lactam antibiotics (71% to erythromycin‚ 53% to co-trimoxazole, 44% to gentamicin and 36% to ciprofloxacin). conclusion: in this study, the majority of invasive community-acquired s. aureus isolates were found to be ca-mrsa. therefore, we recommend that primary treatment should be with antibiotics such as clindamycin, vancomycin, linezolid or daptomycin for any invasive infection suspected to be caused by s. aureus in these two hospitals.