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S. aureus carriage high in hospital workers
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Staphylococcus aureus is more prevalent in hospital workers than in the general population, especially among those who may feel that they are not at risk for infection, according to research presented at ECCMID 2015.
Mitra Saadatian-Elahi, PhD, of Hospices Civils de Lyon, France, and colleagues assessed the prevalence of nasal carriage of MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) in 310 employees of a teaching hospital, including 46 administrative agents; 43 physicians (19 reporting having contact with patients and 24 working in labs); 71 technicians (30 working in bacteriology department with direct manipulation of S. aureus); 48 technical employees; 48 nurses; and 10 physiotherapists.
S. aureuswas isolated from the nasal swabs of 105 (34.8%) employees, with two testing positive for MRSA infection. S. aureus carriage was significantly greater in men (43.7%) than in women (30%). The highest prevalence of carriage was found in technical employees (47.9%), followed by health care providers (38.6%), laboratory technicians (35.8%) and administrative staff (17.7%).
“The very high [S. aureus] carriage in technical employees raises questions. Due to the absence of direct contact with patients, technical employees might feel themselves at no risk of [S. aureus] contamination,” the researchers wrote.
According to Saadatian-Elahi and colleagues, an additional study is planned to investigate the relationship between S. aureus nasal carriage and compliance with hand hygiene practices in this population. – by David Jwanier
Reference: Saadatian-Elahi M, et al. Abstract P0641. Presented at: European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; April 25-28, 2015; Copenhagen, Denmark.
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.