Back to Search
Start Over
Nasal carriers are more likely to acquire exogenous Staphylococcus aureus strains than non-carriers
- Source :
- Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(11). Elsevier Ltd.
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- We performed a prospective observational study in a clinical setting to test the hypothesis that prior colonization by a Staphylococcus aureus strain would protect, by colonization interference or other processes, against de novo colonization and, hence, possible endo-infections by newly acquired S. aureus strains. Three hundred and six patients hospitalized for >7 days were enrolled. For every patient, four nasal swabs (days 1, 3, 5, and 7) were taken, and patients were identified as carriers when a positive nasal culture for S. aureus was obtained on day 1 of hospitalization. For all patients who acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus via colonization and/or infection during hospitalization, strains were collected. We note that our study may suffer from false-negative cultures, local problems with infection control and hospital hygiene, or staphylococcal carriage at alternative anatomical sites. Among all patients, 22% were prior carriers of S. aureus, including 1.9% whom carried MRSA upon admission. The overall nasal staphylococcal carriage rate among dermatology patients was significantly higher than that among neurosurgery patients (n = 25 (55.5%) vs. n = 42 (16.1%), p 0.005). This conclusion held when the carriage definition included individuals who were nasal culture positive on day 1 and day 3 of hospitalization (p 0.0001). All MRSA carriers were dermatology patients. There was significantly less S. aureus acquisition among non-carriers than among carriers during hospitalization (p 0.005). The mean number of days spent in the hospital before experiencing MRSA acquisition in nasal carriers was 5.1, which was significantly lower than the score among non-carriers (22 days, p 0.012). In conclusion, we found that nasal carriage of S. aureus predisposes to rather than protects against staphylococcal acquisition in the nose, thereby refuting our null hypothesis. Clinical Microbiology and Infection (C) 2015 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Colonization
Microbiology (medical)
nasal carriage
Staphylococcus aureus
Pediatrics
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
colonization interference
MRSA
medicine.disease_cause
Young Adult
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Internal medicine
Prevalence
medicine
Humans
Infection control
Nasal carriage
Prospective Studies
Nose
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
business.industry
General Medicine
Middle Aged
Staphylococcal Infections
Nasal Mucosa
Infectious Diseases
medicine.anatomical_structure
Anatomical sites
Carriage
Nasal Swab
Carrier State
Female
business
Follow-Up Studies
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1198743X
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(11). Elsevier Ltd.
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....4cb0de33483f0fca0694f607dc35f510