Objective A retrospective analysis was conducted to review the distribution and antibiotic resistance in the Staphy-lococcus aureus strains isolated from sputum and provide evidence for effective prevention and control of infections.Methods The 276 strains of S .aureus isolated during the period from January to September of 2009 were included in this analysis.The isolates were identified and tested for susceptibility using VITEK 2 Compact Automatic Culture and Identification System. Results The prevalence of methicillin-resistant S .aureus (MRSA)was 79.0% (218/276).The S .aureus strains were mainly isolated from Department of Neurology (27.5%,76/276),ICU (25.4%,70/276),Neurosurgery (18.1 %,50/276),and Re-spiratory Medicine (9.1 %,25/276).Vancomycin,teicoplanin and quinupristin-dalfopristin were the most active agents against these S .aureus .The resistant strains were less than 0.5%.MRSA showed lower resistance rate to trimethoprim-sulfamethox-azole than MSSA.MRSA strains were more resistant than MSSA to most other antibacterial agents.Conclusions The MRSA i-solates from sputum are highly prevalent and resistant to antibiotics.Antimicrobial agents should be selected appropriately ac-cording to the results of susceptibility testing.