Abstract
Background. Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has emerged as the most common cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Methods. Retrospective chart review of 43 adult HIV-infected patients with CA-MRSA SSTI was conducted. Results. Antibiotic susceptibility was as follows: vancomycin (100%), rifampin (100%), gentamicin (97.7%), tetracycline (96.5%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (95.2%), clindamycin (89.5%), levofloxacin (66.7%), and erythromycin (6.9%). At SSTI presentation, 58.5% of patients had CD4 counts greater than 200 cells/uL, 82.9% had a viral load (VL) below 100 000 log copies/mL, 6 of whom had undetectable VL. All 43 patients received empiric antibiotic therapy. Additionally, 34 patients underwent incision and drainage (I&D). For the 37 patients with follow-up data available at 4 weeks, 30 of the infections were resolved/resolving and 7 had no improvement or worsened. Conclusion. A majority of our patients with CA-MRSA SSTI did not have immunological/virological markers consistent with severe HIV/AIDS disease at time of presentation.