Clinical and Molecular Characteristics of Staphylococcal Skin Abscesses in Children

Forty-nine children with skin abscesses (36 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 13 methicillin-susceptible S aureus) exhibited similar disease severity. Both pathogen groups were pulse field type USA300, multilocus sequence type 8, and possessed Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes. Related microbial genetic architecture may account for similarities in disease severity despite differences in antibiotic susceptibility.