Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population and S. aureus isolates
| Characteristic | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Study population | ||
| Total | 520 | 100·0 |
| Age, years | ||
| Median | 55 | |
| Range | 0–97 | |
| Gender | ||
| Male | 267 | 51·3 |
| Female | 253 | 48·7 |
| Source | ||
| General practice | 298 | 57·3 |
| Accident & Emergency | 23 | 4·4 |
| Hospital outpatient | 65 | 12·5 |
| Hospital inpatient | 122 | 23·5 |
| Unknown | 12 | 2·3 |
| S. aureus isolates | ||
| Specimen type | ||
| Wound or skin swab | 413 | 79·4 |
| Respiratory | 32 | 6·2 |
| Urine | 12 | 2·3 |
| Blood | 9 | 1·7 |
| Tissue | 3 | 0·6 |
| Urinary catheter | 2 | 0·4 |
| Bronchoalveolar lavage | 1 | 0·2 |
| Bone | 1 | 0·2 |
| Other | 47 | 9·0 |
| Infection type | ||
| Invasive infection | 14 | 2·7 |
| Non-Invasive infection | 320 | 61·5 |
| Colonization | 186 | 35·8 |
| Methicillin sensitivity | ||
| MRSA | 32 | 6·2 |
| MSSA | 487 | 93·7 |
| Unknown | 1 | 0·2 |
| Multidrug resistant* | 84 | 16·2 |
*
Multidrug-resistant = non-susceptible to ⩾3 classes of antibiotic agent.