561. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus is Decreasing in Community-Onset Pediatric Infections Treated at a Mid-Atlantic Health System


 
 
 Hospitalizations due to soft tissue methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections are decreasing nationally. Analyzing trends in pediatric community-onset (CO) S. aureus infections is needed to inform empiric antibiotic selection in the Emergency Department and outpatient settings.
 
 
 
 We identified all cultures growing S. aureus between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2020 in the Johns Hopkins Hospital microbiology laboratory that services an academic medical center, a mid-level teaching hospital, and a community hospital. Patients were included if they were ≤18 years of age or treated in a pediatric location. Cultures that likely represented colonization, such as nasal swabs, throat swabs, or sputum were excluded. Patients hospitalized within 2 calendar days of culture collection were defined as treated in-hospital. All others were defined as treated outpatient. CO infection was defined as a culture obtained within 3 days of hospitalization or from children not hospitalized. Only the first culture per patient per quarter was included. Cochran Armitage test was used to analyze trends in antibiotic susceptibilities.
 
 
 
 3517 cultures obtained from 3078 patients were included. 3208 cultures (91%) were CO. Of CO cultures, 2517 (78.5%) were treated in an outpatient setting and 691 (21.5%) were treated in-hospital. There was a 74% decrease in the number of CO S. aureus cultures during the study period: 751 in 2014 to 191 in 2020. Comparing CO cultures from 2014 and 2020, methicillin susceptibility increased from 59.5% to 67% overall (p = 0.007), 59.4% to 63.8% in outpatient treated cultures (p = 0.07), and 60% to 76% among in-hospital treated cultures (p =0.02). Methicillin susceptibility from CO soft tissue sources remained about 60% during the study period with no significant change in trend. When soft tissue sources were excluded from CO cultures, methicillin susceptibility increased from 61.7% in 2014 to 84.1% in 2020 (p = 0.01). Within CO blood cultures, methicillin susceptibility increased from 86.7% to 92.3% (p = 0.4).
 
 
 
 In a regional health system, CO pediatric MRSA incidence is decreasing. Although the majority of CO bloodstream S. aureus infections are methicillin susceptible, MRSA continues to cause up to 40% of S. aureus soft tissue infections.
 
 
 
 Aaron Milstone, MD, Merck: Grant/Research Support Karen C. Carroll, MD, Abbott Diagnostics: Advisor/Consultant|BD Diagnostics: Advisor/Consultant|BD Diagnostics: Grant/Research Support|BioRad, Inc: Grant/Research Support|Meridian Biosciences: Grant/Research Support|Roche Diagnostics: Advisor/Consultant|Scanogen, Inc: Advisor/Consultant|Scanogen, Inc: Grant/Research Support|Thermo Fisher, Inc: Advisor/Consultant.
