Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Vermillion.
J Infect Dis. 2024 Jan 12;229(1):245-251. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad302.
Here, we fed bed bugs through a membrane contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at a concentration naturally present on human skin. We then determined the amount of viable MRSA present on their surface and internally over a period of 7 days. We also determined whether bed bugs that fed through the contaminated membrane could transmit MRSA to an uncontaminated membrane when taking a second blood meal 7 days later. Bed bugs acquired MRSA both externally on the cuticle surface as well as internally when feeding. MRSA was found to persist for 7 days both externally and internally in some bed bugs. Furthermore, MRSA replicated internally but not externally. Most importantly, bed bugs were able to transmit MRSA to an uncontaminated membrane feeder in 2 of 3 trials. These findings provide the first experimental support for the hypothesis that bed bugs may contribute to the transmission of MRSA in some settings.
在这里，我们通过一层自然存在于人体皮肤上的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）污染的膜来喂养臭虫。然后，我们在 7 天的时间里确定了它们表面和内部存在的有活力的 MRSA 的数量。我们还确定了 7 天后，当臭虫通过污染的膜再次吸食血液时，它们是否可以将 MRSA 传播到未污染的膜上。臭虫在取食时既可以通过表皮表面外部获得 MRSA，也可以通过内部途径获得。MRSA 在一些臭虫体内外部都可以持续存在 7 天。此外，MRSA 在内部复制而不在外部复制。最重要的是，在 3 次试验中的 2 次中，臭虫能够将 MRSA 传播到未污染的膜喂养器上。这些发现为臭虫可能有助于某些环境中 MRSA 传播的假设提供了第一个实验支持。
