Department of Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology, College of Public Health, Kent State University, 750 Hilltop Drive, Kent, OH 44242, United States.
Ministry of Science and Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Dec 1;599-600:1363-1368. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.080. Epub 2017 May 15.
Staphylococcus aureus can cause minor to severe life-threatening infections. The changing epidemiology of S. aureus is of public health concern due to the emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. Environmental surfaces play a crucial role in the transmission of S. aureus. The objective of this study was to examine environmental contamination and molecular characteristics of S. aureus in health professional-associated (HPA) and non-health professional-associated (NHPA) buildings at a large university.
A total of 152 environmental surface samples were collected from two HPA and two NHPA campus buildings. Bacterial culture and diagnostics were done using standard microbiology methods. Polymerase chain reaction was conducted to detect mecA and PVL genes. All isolates were spa typed. A subset of isolates was characterized via multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). All S. aureus isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility.
The overall contamination of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was 22.4% (34/152) and 5.9% (9/152) respectively. Similar prevalence of contamination was found in HPA and NHPA buildings. A total of 17 different spa types were detected among 34 S. aureus isolates. The majority of the MRSA isolates belonged to clonal complex (CC) 8. One isolate was positive for PVL. Eleven different sequence types (STs) were detected from 17 tested isolates. ST8 was the most common. Twelve isolates (35.3%) were MDR.
Almost 27% (9/34) of the isolates were MRSA. The highest contamination of S. aureus was found in high hand-touch areas such as door knobs, suggesting that human interaction in crowded environments such as academic institutions plays a crucial role in S. aureus/MRSA transmission via inanimate objects. Additionally, more than one-third of the isolates were MDR. These data reinforce the need to implement effective prevention strategies outside the healthcare setting to decrease the incidence of drug-resistant S. aureus infections.
金黄色葡萄球菌可引起轻度至重度危及生命的感染。由于多药耐药（MDR）菌株的出现，金黄色葡萄球菌的不断变化的流行病学情况引起了公共卫生关注。环境表面在金黄色葡萄球菌的传播中起着至关重要的作用。本研究的目的是检查一所大型大学校园内与卫生保健相关（HPA）和非卫生保健相关（NHPA）建筑物中的环境污染和金黄色葡萄球菌的分子特征。
从两座 HPA 和两座 NHPA 校园建筑中采集了 152 个环境表面样本。使用标准微生物学方法进行细菌培养和诊断。聚合酶链反应（PCR）用于检测 mecA 和 PVL 基因。所有分离株均进行 spa 分型。选择一部分分离株进行多位点序列分型（MLST）。所有金黄色葡萄球菌分离株均进行抗生素敏感性测试。
金黄色葡萄球菌和耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）的总体污染率分别为 22.4%（34/152）和 5.9%（9/152）。HPA 和 NHPA 建筑中的污染率相似。在 34 株金黄色葡萄球菌分离株中检测到 17 种不同的 spa 型。大多数 MRSA 分离株属于克隆群（CC）8。有 1 株分离株对 PVL 呈阳性。从 17 株受试分离株中检测到 11 种不同的序列类型（ST）。ST8 是最常见的。12 株（35.3%）为多药耐药菌。
近 27%（9/34）的分离株为 MRSA。在门把手等高手触摸区域发现金黄色葡萄球菌污染最高，这表明在学术机构等拥挤环境中，人类的相互作用通过无生命物体在金黄色葡萄球菌/MRSA 的传播中起着至关重要的作用。此外，超过三分之一的分离株为多药耐药菌。这些数据强化了在医疗保健环境之外实施有效预防策略的必要性，以降低耐药物金黄色葡萄球菌感染的发生率。
