Failure of rifampin to eradicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization.

Four patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage in one body site each (urine, anterior nares, throat, or wound) received 300 mg of oral rifampin twice daily for ten days. Treatment did not eradicate MRSA carriage in any patient, and three of the posttherapy isolates were highly resistant to the drug. Rifampin by itself does not appear to be an effective drug for the eradication of MRSA carriage.