Emergency Department Visit Rates for Abscess Versus Other Skin Infections During the Emergence of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 1997–2007

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.