News, views, and reviews. Less may be more for MRSA: the latest on antibiotics, the utility of packing an abscess, and decolonization strategies.

The management of skin infections has evolved over time and new evidence suggests that less acute intervention may be as good or better. For acute treatment, evidence from the emergency medicine literature shows that empiric oral antibiotics may not improve outcomes relative to incision and drainage alone. The use of packing material for wounds after draining does not lead to a decreased rate of recurrence, more rapid healing, or fewer physician visits, but does cause more pain. For patients with multiple or recurrent skin and soft tissue infections, a comprehensive decolonization or eradication strategy is the most effective at preventing further recurrences. Several decolonization approaches exist and can be tailored to find the most appropriate for a particular individual.