Two types of MRSA exist based on the type of patients they infect. They are:

• Healthcare associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) – MRSA among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems. These healthcare-associated staph infections include:

• Surgical wound infections
• Urinary tract infections
• Bloodstream infections (including central-line associated bloodstream infections)
• Pneumonia

• Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) – MRSA infections that are acquired by persons who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) (MRSA causing illness in persons outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities).

Persons with MRSA infections that meet all of the following criteria likely have CA-MRSA infections:

• Diagnosis of MRSA was made in the outpatient setting or by a culture positive for MRSA within 48 hours after admission to the hospital.
• No medical history of MRSA infection or colonization.
• No medical history in the past year of:

• Hospitalization
• Admission to a nursing home, skilled nursing facility, or hospice
• Dialysis
• Surgery

• No permanent indwelling catheters or medical devices that pass through the skin into the body.