Epidemiology of MRSA.

Staphylococcus aureus is recognized as one of the major causes of infections in humans occurring in both the community and the hospital. Up to now one of the most serious aspects as far as treatment of S. aureus infections is concerned is resistance to methicillin, which in clinical terms indicates resistance to all beta-lactam antibiotics. The growing incidence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections worldwide, their multidrug resistance, several reservoirs of resistant strains, the facility to spread also outside hospitals and to cause outbreaks requires efficacious infection control measures. For this reason microbiological and epidemiological studies are of crucial importance.