The question is - what were the conditions of the people who developed this new strain as an infection - before the infection took hold? I see a 50% mortality and think - this is some nasty stuff, sure enough - but were the people who were infracted already very unhealthy due to the underlying cause of their hospital visit in the first place? The commenta about more advanced age (of those who developed this strain) hints at that - but where is the rest of this story?
My FIL died of MRSA pneumonia, but he had taken a fall, broken his hip, had had surgery to repair the break, and was 93 years old. All those factors certainly played a part in his death.
As far as meds, a few year ago, when my kid was a teenager, overnight one side of his face swelled up (from an infected blemish) and they diagnosed MRSA, but put him on clindamycin. He recovered quickly, so I guess back then (if not now) clindamycin must work for some of the MRSA skin infections.