Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
School of Nursing and Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Pathogens. 2013 Dec 27;3(1):1-13. doi: 10.3390/pathogens3010001.
One function of skin microbiota is to resist colonization and infection by external microorganisms. We sought to detect whether the structure of the hand microbiota of 34 healthcare workers (HCW) in a surgical intensive care unit mediates or modifies the relationship between demographic and behavioral factors and potential pathogen carriage on hands after accounting for pathogen exposure. We used a taxonomic screen (16S rRNA) to characterize the bacterial community, and qPCR to detect presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp., methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Candida albicans on their dominant hands. Hands were sampled weekly over a 3-week period. Age, hand hygiene, and work shift were significantly associated with potential pathogen carriage and the associations were pathogen dependent. Additionally, the overall hand microbiota structure was associated with the carriage of potential pathogens. Hand microbiota community structure may act as a biomarker of pathogen carriage, and modifying that structure may potentially limit pathogen carriage among HCW.
皮肤微生物组的一个功能是抵抗外部微生物的定植和感染。我们试图检测在考虑病原体暴露后，手术重症监护病房 34 名医护人员（HCW）手部微生物组的结构是否会调节或改变人口统计学和行为因素与手部潜在病原体携带之间的关系。我们使用分类筛选（16S rRNA）来描述细菌群落，并使用 qPCR 来检测其主要手上金黄色葡萄球菌、肠球菌属、耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）和白色念珠菌的存在。每周对手进行采样，持续 3 周。年龄、手部卫生和轮班与潜在病原体携带显著相关，并且这些关联具有病原体依赖性。此外，手部微生物组的整体结构与潜在病原体的携带有关。手部微生物组群落结构可能作为病原体携带的生物标志物，并且改变该结构可能潜在地限制 HCW 中的病原体携带。
