There were 54 confirmed cases of community-associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in August, a record monthly high, the Centre for Health Protection announced today.

The cases comprised 36 male and 18 female aged between two months and 85 years. All were sporadic infections except for two family clusters involving four cases.

Thirty-two patients had been admitted to hospital while 22 were managed as out-patients. All of them had skin and soft tissue infection and none had invasive forms of the disease.

Fifty-three have recovered or been discharged from hospital while one patient is in hospital in stable condition, the centre said.

There were 291 confirmed cases reported during the first eight months of the year. There were 368 cases throughout last year.

The centre said people should not use antibiotics without professional medical advice, and should take the medicine according to the prescribed frequency and dosage.