Staphylococcus aureus osteoarticular infections in children: an 8-year review of molecular microbiology, antibiotic resistance and clinical characteristics.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical, phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus strains causing osteoarticular infections in a large paediatric series.

Methodology: Medical records of children who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of community-associated S. aureus (CA-SA) osteomyelitis and/or septic arthritis in the two major tertiary paediatric hospitals of Athens during an 8-year period (2007-2015) were reviewed, and S.