• N Piper Jenks, M Pardos de la Gandara, B M D'Orazio, J Correa da Rosa, R G Kost, C Khalida, K S Vasquez, C Coffran, M Pastagia, T H Evering, C Parola, T Urban, S Salvato, F Barsanti, B S Coller, and J N Tobin.
• Clinical Directors Network, Inc (CDN), 5 West 37th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA; Hudson River HealthCare, 1037 Main Street, Peekskill, NY 10566, USA. Electronic address: njenks@HRHCARE.ORG.
• Travel Med Infect Dis. 2016 Nov 1; 14 (6): 551-560.

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (SSTIs) in the community in the United States of America. Community Health Centers (CHC) serve as primary care providers for thousands of immigrants in New York.MethodsAs part of a research collaborative, 6 New York City-area CHCs recruited patients with SSTIs. Characterization was performed in all S. aureus isolates from wounds and nasal swabs collected from patients. Statistical analysis examined the differences in wound and nasal cultures among immigrant compared to native-born patients.ResultsWound and nasal specimens were recovered from 129 patients and tested for antibiotic susceptibility. 40 patients were immigrants from 15 different countries. Although not statistically significant, immigrants had lower rates of MRSA infections (n = 15) than did native-born participants, and immigrants showed significantly higher rates of MSSA wound cultures (n = 11) (OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 1.3, 9.7).ConclusionsIn our study, immigrants were more likely to present with SSTIs caused by MSSA than US-born patients. Immigants also reported lower frequencies of antibiotic prescription or consumption in the months prior to SSTI infection. This suggests that antibiotic resistance may vary regionally and that immigrants presenting with SSTIs may benefit from a broader range of antibiotics.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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