Abstract: Objective: To study the infection situation of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and drug resistance characteristics of MRSA and MSSA in inpatients that infected with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) in our hospital. Methods: The data of SSTIs inpatients who underwent bacterial culture and drug sensitivity test in our hospital from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 were collected and the recall factor and disease distribution of SA, MRSA and differences in drug resistance between MRSA and MSSA were analyzed. Results: A total of 1455 SSTIs inpatients were collected, including 323 SA infection (22.2%). Of 323 SA cases, 72 (22.3%) were positive for MRSA. The recall factor of MRSA showed an increasing trend from 2018 to 2020. The patients positive for MRSA were most pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, eczema, psoriasis and erythroderma. The drug resistance rates of MRSA to 11 antibacterial agents such as azithromycin, penicillin, erythromycin, clarithromycin and tetracycline were significantly higher than those of MSSA, with significant differences (Ps<0.05), and there was no significant difference between MRSA and MSSA on drug resistance rates of cotrimoxazole, clindamycin and gentamicin (Ps>0.05).  Conclusion: The recall factor of SA in SSTIs is high in our hospital, and the proportion of SA in MRSA is high, and the drug resistance rate of MRSA to most antibacterial drugs is significantly higher than MSSA.

Key words: Staphylococcus aureus, drug sensitive test, MRSA, MSSA, drug resistance