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S. aureus, skin infection correlation identified in industrial hog operation workers
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Inter-nasal antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was associated with recent symptoms of skin and soft tissue infections in individuals who work on large industrial hog operations, according to recent study findings.
“Before this study, we knew that many hog workers were carrying livestock-associated S. aureus strains in their noses, but we didn’t know what that meant in terms of worker health,” Christopher D. Heaney, PhD, MS, an assistant professor in the departments of environmental health and engineering and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a press release. “It wasn’t clear whether hog workers carrying these bacteria might be at increased risk of infection. This study suggests that carrying these bacteria may not always be harmless to humans.”
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and community organizers at the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help in Duplin County, North Carolina, collaborated to investigate the relationship between nasal carriage of livestock-associated S. aureus among industrial hog operation workers and their household members in North Carolina and self-reported skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) symptoms.
One hundred eighty-three participants —103 workers, 26 adult household members and 54 minor children — completed a baseline questionnaire and provided a baseline nasal swab between October 2013 and February 2014.
The researchers compared the distributions of potential individual risk factors (ie, antibiotic usage, participation in contact sports) and household risk factors for S. aureus, and they found that traditional risk factors were uncommon among the hog workers and adult household members. However, 36% of the minors reported recently playing contact sports and 55% reported using a gym or workout facility during the 3 months prior to enrollment in the study.
New research suggests that some workers at industrial hog production facilities are not only carrying livestock-associated, drug-resistant bacteria intranasally, but may also be developing skin infections from these bacteria.
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Forty-four percent of workers and 39% of the household members carried S. aureus at baseline and MRSA was identified in one worker. Twenty percent of workers and 10% of household members carried multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. aureus.
Six hog operators and six household members — all children — reported recent SSTIs.
The researchers identified that individuals who carried S. aureus intranasally (prevalence ratio [PR] = 4.5; 95% CI, 1.4-14.9) and MDR S. aureus (PR = 3.1; 95% CI, 1.2-7.8) were more likely to report a recent SSTI. The researchers also observed a higher prevalence of recent SSTIs in hog workers who did carry MDR S. aureus (PR = 8.8; 95% CI, 1.8-43.9) and scn-negative S. aureus (PR = 5.1; 95% CI, 1.2-22.2).
Another study published this year by Heaney and colleagues suggests children who live with parents who work on large industrial hog operations have a higher prevalence of inter-nasal antibiotic-resistant S. aureus compared with children whose parents did not work on hog operations in the same community in North Carolina.
“This issue isn’t going away and there are many more research questions that need to be answered,” Heaney said. – by Ryan McDonald
References:
Hatcher SM, et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2016;doi:10.1289/EHP35.
Nadimpalli M, et al. PLoS One. 2016;doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165713.
Disclosure: Heaney reports receiving support from a National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety grant.