ObjectiveTo compare distribution and antimicrobial resistance of methicillinsensitive Staphylococcus aureus(MSSA) and methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in hospitalized children, and provide reference for empirical use of antimicrobial agents. MethodsIsolation and clinical data of Staphylococcus aureus( S. aureus) from hospitalized children in a hospital during 2011-2015 were analyzed retrospectively, distribution and antimicrobial resistance between MSSA and MRSA were compared.ResultsA total of 919 strains of S. aureus were isolated, 632(68.77% ) of which were MSSA, 287（31.23%）were MRSA. 65.03% of MSSA infection and 64.11% of MRSA infection were in children aged 29 day1 year old. 80.38% of MSSA and 79.09% of MRSA were isolated from sputum specimen. MSSA and MRSA were mainly distributed in department of pediatric respiratory medicine（50.73%, 45.89% respectively） and department of pediatric neurology（22.98%, 26.84% respectively）. Resistance rates of MSSA to antimicrobial agents were<20.00% except penicillin and erythromycin; resistance rates of MRSA to penicillin, oxacillin, erythromycin, and clindamycin were all>40.00%; resistance rates of MRSA to tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, nitrofurantoin, and rifampin were all higher than MSSA. ConclusionMSSA is main S. aureus isolated from hospitalized children, infants under 1 year of age are the main population, the main distribution departments of MSSA and MRSA from respiratory tract specimen are similar, antimicrobial resistance of MRSA is generally higher than that of MSSA.