A Clone of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus among Professional Football Players

During the 2003 football season, large skin abscesses due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) developed in five players on a professional football team. All the infections involved the same clone of MRSA, which appears to be widely distributed in the community. During the 2003 football season, large skin abscesses due to Staphylococcus aureus developed in five players on a professional football team. Contact sports such as American football inevitably lead to skin and soft-tissue injuries that place players at increased risk for infection. 1 , 2 Skin infections, particularly those caused by Staphylococcus aureus, are common among sports participants. Recent reports have described an increasing number of community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) skin infections in persons without links to health care institutions. 3 – 6 These infections differ from those due to health care–associated MRSA in that they are resistant predominantly to β-lactam and macrolide antimicrobial agents and in that they result in the formation of skin abscesses. Cases of community-associated MRSA infection have previously been . . .