Epidemiology

The annual incidence of peripheral bone infection in developed countries is below 2%, but incidence increases after surgical care of open or closed fractures, and in immunocompromised patients.[1][6]​​

One study in the US showed that the overall age- and sex-adjusted annual incidence of osteomyelitis was 21.8 cases per 100,000 person-years between 1969 and 2009. The annual incidence was higher for men than for women and increased with age.[7]​ During the study period, incidence rates remained stable among children and adults ages <50 years but almost tripled among older adults, mostly driven by a secular increase in diabetes-related cases. The incidence of diabetes-related osteomyelitis quadrupled over the three decades of investigations.[7]

The annual incidence of hospitalization for vertebral osteomyelitis in the United States rose from 2.9 per 100,000 in 1998 to 5.4 per 100,000 in 2013.[8]

The incidence of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis in children ranges from 1.2 to 13 cases per 100,000 children per year.[4] This varies geographically with increased incidence in resource-limited countries and over time with the emergence of virulent pathogen strains, particularly community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the United States.[4]

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