TY - JOUR AU - Collignon, Peter AU - Nimmo, Graeme R. AU - Gottlieb, Thomas AU - Gosbell, Iain B. T1 - Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia, Australia T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2005 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 554 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is common and increasing worldwide. A retrospective review was undertaken to quantify the number of cases, their place of acquisition, and the proportions caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in 17 hospitals in Australia. Of 3,192 episodes, 1,571 (49%) were community onset. MRSA caused 40% of hospital-onset episodes and 12% of community-onset episodes. The median rate of SAB was 1.48/1,000 admissions (range 0.61–3.24; median rate for hospital-onset SAB was 0.7/1,000 and for community onset 0.8/1,000 admissions). Using these rates, we estimate that ≈6,900 episodes of SAB occur annually in Australia (35/100,000 population). SAB is common, and a substantial proportion of cases may be preventable. The epidemiology is evolving, with >10% of community-onset SAB now caused by MRSA. This is an emerging infectious disease concern and is likely to impact on empiric antimicrobial drug prescribing in suspected cases of SAB. KW - Staphylococcus aureus KW - bacteremia KW - hospital infections KW - methicillin resistance KW - mortality KW - fatal outcome KW - nosocomial infections KW - infection control KW - indwelling catheters KW - research KW - Australia DO - 10.3201/eid1104.040772 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/4/04-0772_article ER - End of Reference