Antibiotic susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from skin lesions in children. A retrospective analysis from a tertiary care Italian pediatric hospital.

Antibiotic susceptibility of S. aureus was retrospectively assessed in 1833 strains isolated from skin lesions observed in an Italian tertiary care hospital. Methicillin resistance was more frequent in outpatients than in inpatients (18% vs. 14%, p  = 0.04) as well as resistance to cotrimoxazole (8% vs. 4.1%, p  < 0.001). Resistance to ampicillin was 99% in both groups, while for clindamycin it was 11% and 14%, respectively. Among topical antibiotics fusidic acid showed the better resistance profile (3%). Antibiotic resistance in pediatric skin infection in outpatients could represent a therapeutic problem in Italy.