Background:

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) are very common in children and Staphylococcus aureus is the main agent, with an increase of methicillin resistant strains (MRSA) in recent years.

Aim:

To identify the frequency of MRSA in skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) in children from a high complex hospital in Medellin, Colombia.

Methods:

This is a descriptive, retrospective study, information was obtained from medical records. We included patients younger than 18 years with SSTI due to S. aureus who did not meet criteria for invasive disease.

Results:

The prevalence of MRSA in this population was 31%. The main diagnosis was cutaneous abscess (68%), followed by surgical site infection (15%) and non-purulent cellulitis (6%). Eighty five percent of the patients had at least 1 comorbidity. All isolates were sensitive to rifampicin and cotrimoxazole and 8% of the isolates were resistant to clindamycin. There was a higher prevalence of MRSA in patients under 2 years compared to older (60 vs 23%, p = 0,0109).

Conclusion:

In view of the high prevalence of MRSA in SSTI, empirical treatment with adequate coverage for MRSA is recommended, especially for patients under 2 years of age.

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