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Topical mupirocin is used widely to treat skin and soft tissue infections and to eradicate nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Few studies to date have characterized the rates of S. aureus mupirocin resistance in pediatric populations. We retrospectively studied 358 unique S. aureus isolates obtained from 249 children seen in a predominantly outpatient setting by the Division of Pediatric Dermatology at a major academic center in New York City between 1 May 2012 and 17 September 2013. Mupirocin resistance rates and the associated risk factors were determined using a logistic regression analysis. In our patient population, 19.3% of patients had mupirocin-resistant S. aureus isolates at the time of their first culture, and 22.1% of patients with S. aureus infection had a mupirocin-resistant isolate at some time during the study period. Overall, 31.3% of all S. aureus isolates collected …