根據一項最新研究，甲氧苯青霉素抵抗的金黃色葡萄球菌(MRSA)已經成為皮膚和軟組織感染最常見的原因，當皮膚感染被切開和引流之后，將急診科醫生帶回了無青霉素的年代。

加州大學洛山磯醫學中心(OVMC-UCLA, Sylmar, CA, USA)的Olive View在2004年對11所大城市進行了MRSA的前瞻性研究。來自422例在各個醫院的成年患者接受了標準治療，發現金黃色葡萄球菌的患者被送往疾病預防控制中心(CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA)接受進一步鑒定。超過75%的接受治療的皮膚和軟組織感染發現有金黃色葡萄球菌，59%都是甲氧苯青霉素抵抗。而2000年之前MRSA在皮膚和軟組織并不是常見原因。根據地區不同在3%左右。
 
Methicillin-Resistant Infections Spread Like Wildfire
 
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become the most common cause of skin and soft tissue infections, taking emergency room doctors back to the pre-penicillin days, when skin infections were lanced and drained, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Olive View-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center (OVMC-UCLA, Sylmar, CA, USA) prospectively looked at MRSA infections at 11 metropolitan centers in 2004. Specimens from 422 adult patients treated were cultured at each hospital using standard methods, and those found to be S aureus were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) for further characterization. More than 75% of all skin and soft tissue infections treated were found to be colonized with S aureus, and 59% overall were methicillin-resistant. By comparison, MRSA was an uncommon cause of skin and soft tissue infections prior to 2000, hovering around 3%, depending on geographic location.