Environmental Contamination Prevalence, Antimicrobial Resistance and Molecular Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and Staphylococcus Epidermidis Isolated from Secondary Schools in Guangzhou, China

Yingying Wang, Jialing Lin, Ting Zhang, Suiping He, Ying Li, Wencui Zhang, Xiaohua Ye and Zhenjiang Yao
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Yingying Wang: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Jialing Lin: School of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Ting Zhang: Department of immunization programme, Dongguan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dongguan 523000, China
Suiping He: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Ying Li: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Wencui Zhang: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Xiaohua Ye: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Zhenjiang Yao: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-9

Abstract: Background : Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE), the most prevalent causes of hospital-associated and community-associated infections, could exist on frequently touched surfaces. This study aims to determine the contamination prevalence and the characteristics of MRSA and MRSE isolated from secondary school environments. Methods : We collected environmental samples from ten secondary schools in Guangzhou city between October 2016 and January 2017. The samples were confirmed for MRSA and MRSE isolates by using biochemical tests and polymerase chain reactions. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCC mec ) typing, toxin gene screening, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were performed to further characterize the isolates. Data were analyzed by two-sample proportion tests. Results : A total of 1830 environmental samples were collected. The prevalence of MRSA and MRSE contamination were 1.86% (34/1830) and 5.14% (94/1830), respectively. The proportions of multidrug resistance in both MRSA (58.82%) and MRSE (63.83%) isolates were high. Seven clonal complexes (CC) and 12 sequence types (ST) were identified, with the CC5 (35.29%) and ST45 (25.53%) being the most prevalent. We found that 44.12% of the MRSA isolates were community-acquired and the main type was ST45-SCC mec IV. We found that 5.88% and 32.35% of MRSA isolates were positive to Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 ( tst ) gene, respectively. No MRSE isolate was positive to the toxin genes. Conclusion : Our findings raise potential public health concerns for environmental contamination of MRSA and MRSE in school environments. Surfaces of school environments may potentially provide a source for cross-contamination with these bacteria into the wider community.

Keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis; school environment; contamination; antimicrobial resistance; molecular characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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