TY - JOUR AU - Benoit, Stephen R. AU - Estivariz, Concepción AU - Mogdasy, Cristina AU - Pedreira, Walter AU - Galiana, Antonio AU - Galiana, Alvaro AU - Bagnulo, Homero AU - Gorwitz, Rachel AU - Fosheim, Gregory E. AU - McDougal, Linda K. AU - Jernigan, Daniel T1 - Community Strains of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus as Potential Cause of Healthcare-associated Infections, Uruguay, 2002–2004 T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2008 VL - 14 IS - 8 SP - 1216 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) strains have emerged in Uruguay. We reviewed Staphylococcus aureus isolates from a large healthcare facility in Montevideo (center A) and obtained information from 3 additional hospitals on patients infected with CA-MRSA. An infection was defined as healthcare-onset if the culture was obtained >48 hours after hospital admission. At center A, the proportion of S. aureus infections caused by CA-MRSA increased from 4% to 23% over 2 years; the proportion caused by healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) decreased from 25% to 5%. Of 182 patients infected with CA-MRSA, 38 (21%) had healthcare-onset infections. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis determined that 22 (92%) of 24 isolates were USA1100, a community strain. CA-MRSA has emerged in Uruguay and appears to have replaced HA-MRSA strains at 1 healthcare facility. In addition, CA-MRSA appears to cause healthcare-onset infections, a finding that emphasizes the need for infection control measures to prevent transmission within healthcare settings. KW - Staphylococcus aureus KW - CA-MRSA KW - HA-MRSA KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - healthcare-onset infections KW - Uruguay KW - research DO - 10.3201/eid1408.071183 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/8/07-1183_article ER - End of Reference