MRSA in the Community/DR. FRIDKIN AND COLLEAGUES REPLY/DR. MILLER AND COLLEAGUES REPLY

TO THE EDITOR: Two articles in the April 7 issue ([Scott K. Fridkin, M.D.] et al.1 and [Loren G. Miller] et al.2) deal with the subject of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Fridkin et al. found that 6 percent of cases of MRSA infection were invasive, but they reported no cases of the toxic shock syndrome. Although MRSA strains are toxigenic,3 MRSA-associated toxic shock syndrome appears rare4,5 and has not been described with community-acquired strains.