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CDC EID journal Volume 13 Number 11—November 2007 Main Article

Volume 13, Number 11—November 2007

Research

Methamphetamine Use and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infections

Adam L. Cohen*Comments to Author , Carrie Shuler*†, Sigrid McAllister*, Gregory E. Fosheim*, Michael G. Brown‡, Debra Abercrombie§, Karen F. Anderson*, Linda K. McDougal*, Cherie L. Drenzek†, Katie Arnold†, Daniel B. Jernigan*, and Rachel Gorwitz*
Author affiliations: *Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; †Georgia Division of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ‡Kennestone Hospital, Marietta, Georgia, USA; §Northwest Georgia Health District 1–1, Rome, Georgia, USA;

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Table 1

Demographic characteristics of study participants with (case-patients) and without (controls) skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs)*

Characteristic Patients with SSTIs
 Patients without SSTIs 
(N = 284), no. (%)
MRSA (N = 81), no. (%) MSSA (N = 20), no. (%) Other† (N = 18), no. (%)
Age, y
<18 12 (14.8) 0 2 (11.1) 18 (6.3)
19–34 30 (37.0) 13 (65.0) 8 (44.4) 102 (35.9)
35–64 35 (43.2) 6 (30.0) 7 (38.9) 135 (47.5)
>65 4 (4.9) 1 (5.0) 1 (5.6) 29 (10.2)
Male sex‡ 48 (59.3)§ 8 (40.0) 10 (55.6) 104 (36.6)
Race¶
White 73 (90.1) 18 (90.0) 16 (88.9) 244 (85.9)
Black 5 (6.2) 2 (10.0) 2 (11.1) 36 (12.7)
Other 3 (3.7) 0 0 3 (1.1)
Hispanic ethnicity# 2 (2.5) 0 0 4 (1.4)

*MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MSSA, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus.
†Bacteria other than S. aureus isolated from SSTI in our investigation included other Staphylococcus spp., viridans group streptococci, Group B Streptococcus, Enterobacter cloacae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and mixed flora.
‡6 records did not indicate sex (1 MRSA case, 1 MSSA case, and 4 controls).
§p<0.0001, when compared with controls.
¶For 1 control, race was not indicated.
#3 records did not indicate ethnicity (2 MRSA cases, 1 other skin infection).

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