Staphylococcus aureus Antibiotic Susceptibilities in Infections in an Outpatient Dermatology Office on O'ahu.

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that causes skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in dermatology patients. There is an increasing rate of methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) reported in the dermatology literature since 1987. This report profiles the antibiotic susceptibilities of methicillin-sensitive S aureus (MSSA) and MRSA in an outpatient office in Hawai'i. This is a retrospective study done by chart review from 2012 to 2014. Demographics, anatomical site of infection, clinical diagnoses and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were analyzed and compared. Of the 66 samples, 57% were males and 43% were females. S aureus was more commonly found in impetigo, folliculitis, furuncles and secondarily infected psoriasis and more commonly located on the extremities. MSSA accounted for 73% (48) of the cases and MRSA accounted for 27% (18) of the cases. The antibiotics most effective against all S aureus cultures for outpatients were linezolid (100%), trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (95%) and tetracyclines (94%). Linezolid (100%), trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (100%) were most effective against MRSA isolates. Our S aureus and MRSA antimicrobial susceptibility results are similar to the local Hawai'i outpatient antibiogram collected from a large private laboratory in Hawai'i in 2014 and the current Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines. This study may be helpful in guiding empiric treatment of SSTIs suspected to be caused by S aureus.