Comparison of community- and health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Context: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has traditionally been considered a health care-associated pathogen in patients with established risk factors. However, MRSA has emerged in patients without established risk factors (community-associated MRSA).

Objective: To characterize epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of community-associated MRSA cases compared with health care-associated MRSA cases.