Community-Associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) Basics

CA-MRSA infections lack traditional health care-associated risk factors. CA-MRSA can cause the same type of infections as other strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

On this page:
History
Transmission
Common Causes
Fact sheet

History

• Community-associated (CA) MRSA infections were first recognized in the 1980s.
  
  
• Persons with CA-MRSA infections are typically younger and healthier than persons with health care-associated MRSA.
  
  
• CA-MRSA bacteria are usually susceptible to more types of antibiotics than are health care-associated strains of MRSA.

Transmission

• Traditionally, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections have been associated with hospitalization or other health care-associated risk factors.
  • Healthcare-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA)
    More information about causes and transmission of HA-MRSA.
    
    
• In recent years physicians and other health care providers have observed an increasing number of people with MRSA infections who lack traditional health care-associated risk factors. These people appear to have community-associated infections.

Common causes

• CA-MRSA infections can cause the same type of infections as other strains of staph.
  
  
• Studies conducted in Minnesota have found that CA-MRSA is more likely to cause skin and soft tissue infections and that health care-associated MRSA is more likely to be found in sputum or urine.

Fact sheet

• MRSA: Antibiotic-resistant “Staph” Skin Infections
  Fact sheet of frequently asked questions about MRSA.