Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates collected in 2005 and 2006 from patients with invasive disease: a population-based analysis.

This study characterizes 1,984 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates collected in 2005 and 2006 from normally sterile sites in patients with invasive MRSA infection. These isolates represent a convenience sample of all invasive MRSA cases reported as part of the Active Bacterial Core surveillance system in eight states in the United States. The majority of isolates were from blood (83.