HIV males - 1 in 3 with MRSA suffer chronic infection

Link: Arch Intern Med -- High Recurrence Rate of CA-MRSA Skin and Soft Tissue Infections, Dec 10/24, 2007, Skiest and Cooper 167 (22): 2527.

We read with interest the study by Shastry et al1 describing community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in men who have sex with men. Their study included 100 men with SSTIs due to MRSA; the majority of their cohort was seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (mean CD4 cell count, 497 cells/�L). Shastry et al1 report a high rate of recurrent MRSA SSTIs; 27 of 87 patients (31%) had a recurrence, of which 18 had a recurrence at a new site. Thus, 21% had a recurrence of MRSA SSTI at a new site.