Although overall rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are declining, MRSA blood infections are not.

CDDEP researchers calculated rates of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA-related hospitalizations from 2010 to 2014, for septicemias, pneumonias, and unspecified S. aureus infections, using inpatient records from the National Inpatient Survey (NIS) from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). The researchers found:

  • The rate of S. aureus septicemias increased nearly 20 percent, from 2.66 to 3.15 per 1,000 hospitalizations
  • The rate of MRSA septicemias increased from 1.45 to 1.53 per 1,000 hospitalizations
  • Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) septicemia increased from 1.21 to 1.61 per 1,000 hospitalizations