Emergency department visit rates for abscess versus other skin infections during the emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 1997-2007.

Qualls, Munirih L; Mooney, Megan M; Camargo, Carlos A; Zucconi, Tanya; Hooper, David C; Pallin, Daniel J · Clin Infect Dis · 2012

retrospective_cohort · Level III

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Abstract

Due to a flaw in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification coding system, epidemiology of skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs) has conflated abscess with other SSTIs. We analyzed emergency department visits during 1997-2007, finding that the odds of abscess relative to any other diagnosis increased 11% per year, or 3.1-fold, whereas other SSTIs increased minimally.

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