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

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. © 2012 The Author.