Staphylococci are common causes of healthcare-associated and community-associated infections. However, limited data are available on the prevalence, phenotypes and molecular characteristics of Staphylococci in metro system around the world. 320 surface samples were collected from the Guangzhou metro system to isolate and characterize Staphylococci strains. Of the samples, 75.6% (242/320) were contaminated with Staphylococci. The Staphylococci isolates, especially the methicillin resistant isolates, were resistance to most of the antibiotics, with 79.8% (193/242) classified as multidrug resistant (MDR) strains. 8 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carried a range of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types [I (1), II (3), III (2) and NT (2)]. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were classified into several ST types and showed possible cross transmissions of strains from various sources. All MRSA strains were positive for the qac gene, and only one methicillin-susceptible Staphylococci aureus (MSSA) strain was positive for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes. This study demonstrated that environmental surfaces in the Guangzhou metro system may be a hazardous reservoir for transmission of Staphylococci to passengers. The resistance to antibiotics and disinfectants observed among isolates was also noteworthy.

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus, particularly methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), in mothers can cause serious outcomes in neonates. We aimed to elucidate the associations of S. aureus and MRSA carriage between mothers and neonates.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted between August and November 2015 in two hospitals in Shenzhen, China. Chinese pregnant women and their neonates who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study; samples and relevant information were collected. We assessed maternal–neonatal associations by using Poisson regression models.ResultsOverall, 1834 mothers and their neonates were included in this study. The prevalence of isolate carriage among the mothers was as follows: S. aureus (nasal, 25.8%; vaginal, 7.3%; and nasal and vaginal, 3.3%) and MRSA (nasal, 5.7%; vaginal, 1.7%; and nasal and vaginal, 0.5%). The incidences of S. aureus and MRSA carriage among neonates were 3.3% and 0.8%, respectively. Of the 21 maternal–neonatal pairs with S. aureus carriage, 14 were concordant pairs with the same phenotypic and molecular characteristics. After adjustment, the relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between the S. aureus carriage of neonates and nasal S. aureus carriage, vaginal S. aureus carriage, and both nasal and vaginal S. aureus carriage of mothers were 2.8 (95% CI, 1.6–4.8), 7.1 (95% CI, 4.1–12.4), and 9.6 (95% CI, 4.2–22.4), respectively.ConclusionS. aureus carriage in mothers increases the risk for neonates.

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ObjectiveTo determine the pooled prevalence and review the influencing factors of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization in Chinese children.MethodsArticles published between January 2005 and October 2015 that studied prevalence or influencing factors of MRSA nasal colonization in Chinese children were retrieved from Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, Chinese VIP database, Chinese Wanfang database, Medline database and Ovid database. Prevalence and influencing factors were analyzed by STATA 13.1.ResultsThirteen articles were included. The overall prevalence of MRSA nasal colonization was 4.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.027–0.062). With an MRSA prevalence of 3.9% (95% CI: 0.018–0.061) in healthy children and 5.8% (95% CI: 0.025–0.092) in children with underlying medical conditions. Children recruited in the hospitals presented MRSA prevalence of 6.4% (95% CI: 0.037–0.091), which was higher than those recruited in the communities [2.7% (95% CI: 0.012–0.043)]. A number of influencing factors for MRSA nasal colonization were noted in three eligible studies: gender (male vs female; OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.55–0.82), younger age (OR: 2.98; 95% CI: 1.31–6.96 and OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.21–2.00), attending day care centers (OR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.28–6.76), having infectious diseases (OR: 2.31; 95% CI: 1.10–4.52), using antibiotics (OR: 2.77; 95% CI: 1.45–5.05), residing in northern Taiwan (OR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.15–1.71), passive smoking (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.02–1.63), and pneumococcal vaccination (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.01–1.48).ConclusionsChildren could act as reservoirs of MRSA transmissions. Hospitals remained the most frequent microorganism-circulated settings. More MRSA infection control strategies are required to prevent the dissemination among children.

Previous research has indicated that raw meats are frequently contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus , but data regarding the pooled prevalence rates of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) contamination in different types of raw meat products (beef, chicken, and pork) and across different periods, regions, and purchase locations remain inconsistent. We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid, Web of Science, and HighWire databases to identify studies published up to June 2016. The STROBE guidelines were used to assess the quality of the 39 studies included in this meta-analysis. We observed no significant differences in the pooled prevalence rates of S. aureus and MRSA contamination identified in various raw meat products, with overall pooled prevalence rates of 29.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22.8 to 35.9%) and 3.2% (95% CI, 1.8 to 4.9%) identified for the two contaminants, respectively. In the subgroup analyses, the prevalence of S. aureus contamination in chicken products was highest in Asian studies and significantly decreased over time worldwide. In European studies, the prevalence rates of S. aureus contamination in chicken and pork products were lower than those reported on other continents. The pooled prevalence rates of S. aureus contamination in chicken and pork products and MRSA contamination in beef and pork products were significantly higher in samples collected from retail sources than in samples collected from slaughterhouses and processing plants. These results highlight the need for good hygiene during transportation to and manipulation at retail outlets to reduce the risk of transmission of S. aureus and MRSA from meat products to humans.