Contemporary Causes of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Jamaica

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are common clinical conditions ranging from mild superficial/cutaneous legions to life-threatening disseminated infections. Roughly 15% of the patients that seek medical intervention have a skin lesion or disease which is infectious. The emergence and rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance has complicated the therapy and negatively impacted patient outcomes in cases of SSTIs. This study serves to highlight the most common causative agents of SSTIs in Jamaica based on frequency of isolation, their drug resistance, and also their frequency associated with the different demographic groups during the time period covered. Data pertaining to culture and sensitivity of SSTIs done between 2012 and 2015 was collated from the main reference lab in Jamaica, with permission from Ministry of Health (MOH), and analyzed with the IBM SPSS 25 system. The patients included 139 females, 163 males and 75 of unknown gender. The order etiological agents causing skin and soft tissue infections in Jamaica closely mirrors the order reported in North America, Latin America and Europe with S. aureus being the most prevalent followed by various Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa and β-hemolytic Streptococci. This study showed that 77.1% of the SSTI isolates were resistant to at least one drug while 18.8% were deemed to be multidrug-resistant (MDR) and one case of extensive drug-resistance (XDR) was noted in 2012. The frequency of overall drug resistance and MDR isolates increased from 2013 to 2015. With the etiology of SSTIs in Jamaica mirroring global trends, it critical that we pay close attention to current global trends and recommendations concerning the management of SSTIs in order to improve patient outcomes.