Table 1: Time required for prevalence rates of resistance to reach 25% in hospitals.

Drug	Year Drug Introduced	Years to report of resistance	Years until 25% rate in hospitals	Years until 25% rate in the community
Penicillin	1941	1-2	6	15-20
Vancomycin	1956	40	?	?
Methicillin	1961	<1	25-30	40-50 (projected)

Chambers H. Emerging Infect Dis. 2001;7:179.

Figure 1: The sixth plaque of Egypt-the plague of boils (Exodus IV), 1483.

From the woodblocks of the Great Cologne Bible, 1483.

Figure 2: Increasing incidence of MRSA infection in the United States.

Figure 3: Chronologic evolution of resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Adapted from: CDC’s 12 Steps to prevent antimicrobial resistance in hospitals.

Figure 4

Figure 5: Community-acquired MRSA skin infection in a patient after obtaining a tattoo.

MMWR. 55(24):677-9. 2006. June 23

Figure 6: Nosocomial necrotizing MRSA pneumonia with spontaneous right pneumothorax in ICU

patient (Photo courtesy of the author)