The researchers associated increases in multidrug-resistant MRSA in the hospital with excessive use of two specific classes of antibiotics often prescribed to treat pneumonia (fluoroquinolones) and offered as a substitute for patients allergic to penicillin (macrolides).
He also advises asking for proof of a tuberculosis screening within the past year, as well as a recent test for community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), which can be transmitted by skin-to-skin contact and cause painful skin infections and boils.