Staphylococcal Susceptibility to Penicillin G

Heretofore, penicillin has been considered adequate therapy for most soft-tissue infections due toStaphylococcus aureusoccurring outside the hospital. One hundred thirty-threeS aureusisolates obtained from children seen in the outpatient department and private practice were tested for resistance to penicillin G. The overall resistance to penicillin G by the Kirby-Bauer method was 84% for community strains compared to 95% for hospital strains. A survey of 309 healthy school children under 10 years of age showed that 47% harboredS aureusin their nares, of which approximately 68% were resistant to penicillin G. These findings suggest a trend of increasing penicillin G resistance of community (street) strains ofS aureussimilar to that already observed among hospital strains. (JAMA229:1075-1077, 1974)