Researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that two common antibiotic treatments work equally well against bacterial skin infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) acquired outside of hospital settings. Known as community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, these skin infections have been reported in athletes, daycare-age children, students, military personnel and prison inmates, among others, and can lead to hospitalization, surgical procedures, bacteria in the blood, and in severe cases, deathAlthough MRSA is an increasingly common pathogen and the most common cause of skin infection in the United States, there is no standard treatment approach for CA-MRSA. As CA-MRSA emerged in community settings, there were concerns about how to identify the best treatment options and preserve the effectiveness of last-line drugs