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S. aureus widespread among children living with industrial hog operation workers
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Young children who live with parents who work on large industrial hog operations had a higher prevalence of inter-nasal antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus than children whose parents did not work on hog operations in the same community in North Carolina, according to recent findings.
“Before this study, we didn’t know how common it was for children living with industrial hog operation workers in North Carolina to carry antibiotic-resistant S. aureus in their noses,” 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. “Now that we know how prevalent MRSA and [multi-drug resistant S. aureus] are, important next steps are to learn how children are becoming exposed and whether there are implications for their health.”
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 children carrying antibiotic-resistant S. aureus in their nasal passages and living with adults who worked on antibiotic-using industrial hog operations. The study included 400 adult-child pairs in the 10 highest hog producing counties; 198 pairs included an adult who worked in the hog operation industry and a child younger than 7 years, and 202 pairs included an adult who did not work in any livestock industrial operation and a child younger than 7 years.
Heaney and colleagues asked adults in both groups to complete a questionnaire about themselves and their participating children, and collected nasal swabs from all participants between March and October 2014. Nasal swabs were analyzed for S. aureus, MRSA and MDR S. aureus.
Upon analysis, nasal carriage prevalence of S. aureus was significantly increased in adults (53%) who worked on industrial hog operations compared with adults (31%) who did not (OR = 1.4; 95% CI, 1.07-1.83) and MDR S. aureus was similar among industrial hog operation workers and non-industry workers (OR = 1.14; 95% CI, 0.56-2.29). MRSA nasal carriage was uncommon among both adult pairs (2% to 3%). In child pairs, results showed that “23% of children living with industrial hog operation workers were carrying [multi-drug resistant S. aureus] in their nasal passages, meaning the S. aureus was resistant to three or more antibiotic drug classes”, compared with 8% of children who lived with adults who did not work in the livestock industry. MRSA was prevalent in 14% of hog workers’ children, compared with 6% of children whose parents were not livestock workers.
In addition, children who lived with industry workers who brought their equipment home had a higher prevalence of carrying MRSA and MDR S. aureus than children of livestock workers who did not bring equipment home.
“Our hope is that this study raises awareness about antibiotic resistant S. aureus exposures among children living with industrial hog operation workers and initiates more discussions about antibiotic use and resistance in communities with a high density of hog production,” Devon Hall, study co-author and executive director of the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help in Duplin County, North Carolina, said in the release. – by Kate Sherrer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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