A community pseudo-outbreak of invasive Staphylococcus aureus infection

Outbreaks of invasive infection caused by methicillin-susceptible and methi cillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occur in hospitals, long term care i nstitutions, and in patients discharged from these settings. In contrast, e pidemic S. aureus infection has not been reported in well persons in the co mmunity. Here, we describe a group of healthy young adults who resided in t he same neighborhood and participated together in school sports, and who de veloped serious S. aureus infections within 3 weeks of each other, suggesti ng a true community outbreak. Timely use of molecular epidemiological tools , however, demonstrated that their illnesses were caused by unrelated bacte rial strains. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.