The Environment as an Unrecognized Reservoir for Community-Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300: A Case-Control Study

Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, Justin Knox, Maureen Miller, Cory Hafer, Glenny Vasquez, Megan Ryan, Peter Vavagiakis, Qiuhu Shi and Franklin D Lowy

PLOS ONE, 2011, vol. 6, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are spreading, but the source of infections in non-epidemic settings remains poorly defined. Methods: We carried out a community-based, case-control study investigating socio-demographic risk factors and infectious reservoirs associated with MRSA infections. Case patients presented with CA-MRSA infections to a New York hospital. Age-matched controls without infections were randomly selected from the hospital's Dental Clinic patient population. During a home visit, case and control subjects completed a questionnaire, nasal swabs were collected from index respondents and household members and standardized environmental surfaces were swabbed. Genotyping was performed on S. aureus isolates. Results: We enrolled 95 case and 95 control subjects. Cases more frequently reported diabetes mellitus and a higher number of skin infections among household members. Among case households, 53 (56%) were environmentally contaminated with S. aureus, compared to 36 (38%) control households (p = .02). MRSA was detected on fomites in 30 (32%) case households and 5 (5%; p

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0022407

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022407

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