This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (141)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

Joann M. Lindenmayer, DVM, MPH; Susan Schoenfeld, RN, MSPH; Robert O'Grady; Jan K. Carney, MD, MPH

Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:895-899.

Objectives  To describe a community outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and to investigate risk factors for MRSA transmission and infection in a wrestling team.

Design  Case series and retrospective cohort study.

Setting  A high school wrestling team and the surrounding community in southern Vermont, 1993 to 1994.

Patients or Other Participants  The case series included persons whose MRSA-positive infections were identified at a hospital laboratory from January 1, 1993, through February 28, 1994, and a health maintenance organization laboratory from July 1, 1993, through February 28, 1994. A wrestling team case-patient was a 1993-1994 team member with an MRSA-positive culture during the period from January 1, 1993, through February 28, 1994.

Interventions  Visual inspection of wrestlers before matches was instituted. Affected wrestlers were excluded from wrestling and advised to seek appropriate medical care. Heightened attention was given to personal and environmental hygiene.

Main Outcome Measures  Colonization or infection with MRSA.

Results  Seven of 32 team members were MRSA positive (6 infected, 1 colonized). All lesion-positive wrestlers were tested by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and found to be infected with the same MRSA strain, as were 6 nonwrestlers. No risk factors for MRSA infection were identified.

Conclusions  The MRSA was transmitted among members of a wrestling team. Infection with MRSA should be suspected in outbreaks of boils that are nonresponsive to standard antibiotic therapy among healthy participants of contact sports and their close contacts.

From the Epidemic Intelligence Service, Division of Field Epidemiology, Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga (Dr Lindenmayer); and the Vermont Department of Health, Burlington (Ms Schoenfeld, Mr O'Grady, and Dr Carney). Dr Lindenmayer is now with the Department of Community Health, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in orthopaedic surgery
Patel et al.
J Bone Joint Surg Br 2008;90-B:1401-1406.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

National Trends in Ambulatory Visits and Antibiotic Prescribing for Skin and Soft-Tissue Infections
Hersh et al.
Arch Intern Med 2008;168:1585-1591.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Children Seen in a Practice-Based Research Network
Fritz et al.
Pediatrics 2008;121:1090-1098.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Targeted Intranasal Mupirocin To Prevent Colonization and Infection by Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains in Soldiers: a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Ellis et al.
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 2007;51:3591-3598.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Skin and Soft Tissue Infections at a Public Hospital: Do Public Housing and Incarceration Amplify Transmission?
Hota et al.
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:1026-1033.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Men Who Have Sex With Men in New York City
Shastry et al.
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:854-857.
FULL TEXT  

Rapid Multiplex PCR Assay for Identification of USA300 Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates
Bonnstetter et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2007;45:141-146.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Infectious Disease Outbreaks in Competitive Sports: A Review of the Literature
Turbeville et al.
Am J Sports Med 2006;34:1860-1865.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: New Bug, Old Drugs
Sabol et al.
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2006;40:1125-1133.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Characterization of a Strain of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Widely Disseminated in the United States
Tenover et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2006;44:108-118.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Genes in a Laboratory Quality Control Strain of Staphylococcus aureus
Dunne
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2006;44:287-287.
FULL TEXT  

Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: An Emerging Problem in the Athletic Population
Rihn et al.
Am J Sports Med 2005;33:1924-1929.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Epidemic of Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections: A 14-Year Study at Driscoll Children's Hospital
Purcell and Fergie
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005;159:980-985.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Staphylococcus aureus Sepsis and the Waterhouse-Friderichsen Syndrome in Children
Adem et al.
NEJM 2005;353:1245-1251.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Dissemination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococci among Healthy Japanese Children
Hisata et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2005;43:3364-3372.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevalence of SCCmec Type IV in Nosocomial Bloodstream Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Trindade et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2005;43:3435-3437.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Molecular Epidemiology of Community- and Health Care-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Manitoba, Canada
Wylie and Nowicki
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2005;43:2830-2836.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Therapy Increases Childhood Nasal Colonization by Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Strains Producing High Levels of Penicillinase
Guillemot et al.
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 2004;48:4618-4623.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Directly from Nasal Swab Specimens by a Real-Time PCR Assay
Warren et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2004;42:5578-5581.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Risk Factors for Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in an Outbreak of Disease among Military Trainees in San Diego, California, in 2002
Campbell et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2004;42:4050-4053.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

It's Not a Spider Bite, It's Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Dominguez
J Am Board Fam Med 2004;17:220-226.
FULL TEXT  

Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Typing of Oxacillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from the United States: Establishing a National Database
McDougal et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 2003;41:5113-5120.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in 2 Pediatric Outpatients
Feder
Arch Fam Med 2000;9:560-562.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in a Child Care Center Following a Case of Disease
Shahin et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1999;153:864-868.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT