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CC8-300 most common colonizing MRSA strain in patients, controls
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Among patients with community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus who presented to the ED with closed skin abscesses, CC8-300 was the most common MRSA colonizing strain, according to data presented at ICAAC 2014.
The same strain was also the most common among the colonized control patients. In addition, among the patients with MRSA infection, the most common colonization site with the infecting strain was the groin, according to Valerie Albrecht, MPH, a microbiologist in the CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.
Valerie Albrecht
“It’s widely known that the most common colonization site sampled is the nose, and we wanted to see what extranasal sites may play an important role in colonization,” Albrecht told Infectious Disease News. “Many patients are swabbed in the nose when they are admitted to hospitals to see if they are colonized with S. aureus. I think we have good evidence that other body sites may also be colonized.”
Albrecht and colleagues evaluated 147 patients who presented to the ED with closed skin absences and 147 matched control patients without skin infections. All patients were swabbed from the nares, pharynx, rectum and groin, and patients with abscesses also had wound cultures performed. The researchers evaluated the common sites of colonization and the diversity of S. aureus strains.
Among the patients with abscesses, 119 (81%) were colonized at any site, and 85 patients had an S. aureus infection. Ninety-six (65.3%) of the controls also were colonized. Among the 85 patients with an infection, the most common site of colonization with the infecting strain was the groin (63.5%), followed by the nose (60%). Among the patients with MRSA, the groin was the most common colonization site, followed by the nose. The rates of colonization for the four sites was similar among patients with methicillin-sensitive S. aureus. The researchers concluded that 80 patients, or approximately 40% of the colonized patients, would have been missed with only nasal culture alone.
“Several questions remain, including whether colonization precedes infection and whether extranasal sites are an important risk factor for community-acquired S. aureus infections,” Albrecht said. — by Emily Shafer
For more information:
Albrecht V. Abstract L-1726. Presented at: Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Sept. 5-9, 2014; Washington, D.C.
Disclosure: Albrecht reports no relevant financial disclosures.