Objectives: Although community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections have recently become an increasing problem in various fields of medicine, they have rarely been studied in the ear. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of community-acquired MRSA infections in discharging ears and to compare the epidemiology of MRSA with that of other pathogens.
Material and methods: Between August 2000 and February 2002, 248 isolates recovered from 221 discharging ears of patients with 3 disease entities (chronic otitis media, acute otitis externa and granular myringitis) were prospectively analyzed using bacteriology. The isolates analyzed using bacteriology were divided into three groups: MRSA, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and non-SA.
Results: S. aureus was found in 108 (43.5%) isolates and MRSA in 27. Therefore, the percentage of MRSA among the S. aureus isolates was 25.0% (27/108). The prevalence of community-acquired MRSA infections in discharging ears was 12.2% (27/221) and the MRSA strains were highly susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, fusidic acid and minocycline. The MRSA-infected patients were older than those infected with other groups of pathogens. Also, MRSA infections appeared to be more common in chronic otitis media than in acute otitis externa or granular myringitis.
Conclusions: Community-acquired MRSA represents an increasing problem. In this study, MRSA strains were highly susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin, fusidic acid and minocycline.