Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by non-hospitalized subjects in Israel

The prevalence of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the anterior nares and axilla was studied in 920 non-hospitalized subjects: 350 drug addicts, 350 individuals presenting at a hospital emergency room for various reasons, and 220 hospital health care workers.S. aureus was isolated from 105 (11.4%) subjects, in six (6.3%) of whom the isolates were methicillin-resistant. The isolation rate of the organism and the prevalence of resistant strains in the different subgroups were, respectively: drug-addicts, n=32 (9.1%), n=2 (6.9%); emergency room patients, n=36 (10.2%), n=1 (3.2%); and hospital health care workers, n=37 (16.8%), n=3 (8.5%). Our findings suggest that MRSA remains uncommon in the community, while the prevalence ofS. aureus carriage (including methicillin-resistant strains) in hospital personnel is quite similar in divergent geographical areas.