BACKGROUND: An alarming increase of the incidence of community-acquired infections due to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been noted in several countries during the recent years. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 64-year-old male who complained of fever, shortness of breath, productive cough, and mild low back pain. The patient was diagnosed to have severe community-acquired pneumonia caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Due to the severity of his respiratory symptoms and the history of back injury, the mild low back pain did not receive the appropriate attention. It became clear later that the back pain was caused by an extra-pulmonary focus of the MRSA infection. CONCLUSIONS: Staphylococcus aureus has been reported to be the cause of considerably different proportions of patients with community-acquired pneumonia in studies from various parts of the world. Our case emphasizes the occasionally multi-systemic manifestations of community-acquired MRSA infections and the difficulties in their control.

Keywords: Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use, Acetamides - therapeutic use, Clindamycin - therapeutic use, Community-Acquired Infections - microbiology, Low Back Pain - etiology, Methicillin Resistance, Oxazolidinones - therapeutic use, Pneumonia, Staphylococcal - microbiology, Spinal Diseases - microbiology, Staphylococcus aureus - isolation & purification