Increasing rates of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in healthy children.

Prior studies, including one from our institution performed in 2001, suggest that nasal colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) occurs infrequently in the healthy pediatric population (0.2-2.2%). However, infections caused by community-associated MRSA have increased remarkably in recent years. As a result, we restudied the prevalence of MRSA nasal colonization in healthy children, comparing results from 2001 and 2004.