Characterizing the molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus across and within fitness facility types

Abstract

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium found in the nose and throat of healthy individuals, and presents risk factors for infection and death. We investigated environmental contamination of fitness facilities with S. aureus in order to determine molecular types and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of contaminates that may be transmitted to facility patrons.MethodsEnvironmental swabs (n = 288) were obtained from several fitness facilities (n = 16) across Northeast Ohio including cross-fit type facilities (n = 4), traditional iron gyms (n = 4), community center-based facilities (n = 5), and hospital-associated facilities (n = 3). Samples were taken from 18 different surfaces at each facility and were processed within 24 h using typical bacteriological methods. Positive isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing and molecular characterization (PVL and mecA PCR, and spa typing).ResultsThe overall prevalence of S. aureus on environmental surfaces in the fitness facilities was 38.2% (110/288). The most commonly colonized surfaces were the weight ball (62.5%), cable driven curl bar, and CrossFit box (62.5%), as well as the weight plates (56.3%) and treadmill handle (50%). Interestingly, the bathroom levers and door handles were the least contaminated surfaces in both male and female restroom facilities (18.8%). Community gyms (40.0%) had the highest contamination prevalence among sampled surfaces with CrossFit (38.9%), traditional gyms (38.9%), and hospital associated (33.3%) contaminated less frequently, though the differences were not significant (p = 0.875). The top spa types found overall were t008 (12.7%), t267 (10.0%), t160, t282, t338 (all at 5.5%), t012 and t442 (4.5%), and t002 (3.6%). t008 and t002 was found in all fitness facility types accept Crossfit, with t267 (25%), t548, t377, t189 (all 10.7%) the top spa types found within crossfit. All samples were resistant to benzylpenicillin, with community centers having significantly more strains resistant to oxacillin (52.8%), erythromycin (47%), clindamycin (36%), and ciprofloxacin (19%). Overall, 36.3% of isolates were multidrug resistant.ConclusionsOur pilot study indicates that all facility types were contaminated by S. aureus and MRSA, and that additional studies are needed to characterize the microbiome structure of surfaces at different fitness facility types and the patrons at these facilities.

Fomites in the Fitness Center: Fitness Equipment Harbors Antibiotic Resistant and Pathogenic Bacteria

“…The results supported the hypothesis that fitness center equipment were host to an abundance of WHO priority pathogens. While previous studies reported fomite bacterial loads of up to 20 to 50 million CFU/mL (Chitturi and Lakshmi, 2018;Dalman, et al, 2019), this study yielded much a higher range (7.6 x 10 9 -1.0 x 10 13 CFU/mL, mean: 2.5 x 10 12 CFU/mL) of bacterial abundance. Additionally, at least one (and up to three) antibiotic resistant WHO pathogens were identified from each equipment sampled (Table 2).…”

“…Bacterial load, presence of pathogenic bacteria, and abundance of pathogenic and antibiotic resistant strains was determined via serial dilutions and plate counts, selective screening with specialized growth media, colony isolation, and biochemical tests using API ® 20E chemical panels (bioMerieux, VWRTM, Radnor, PA), respectively. The most notable results of this study were bacterial loads much higher than what has been found in previous studies (Goldhammer et al, 2006;Ryan et al, 2011;Mukherjee et al, 2014;Ibrahim et al, 2018;Dalman et al, 2019;Fadare, 2019) and 100 percent of fomites testing positive for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).…”

Molecular Detection of Panton Valentine Leukocidin Toxin in Clinical Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from Kiambu County, Kenya

“…This prevalence is even higher than that reported in 2013 from the neighboring Nairobi region, although the earlier study analyzed isolates from patients with specific conditions [ 16 ]. However, the prevalence is lower than the 56.8% reported in Nepal [ 41 ], 57.1% in Gambia [ 1 ], and 73% in Uganda [ 40 ]. In our analysis, we have observed a significant association between MRSA and PVL with 9 out of the 14 (64%; 95% CI = 0.35–0.87) PVL positive isolates also being MRSA.…”

Investigation and disinfection of bacteria and fungi in sports fitness center

“…The main source of bacteria present on the surface of fitness facilities is people who come to exercise (Ramos et al 2014). Dalman et al (2019) found 38.2% of the environmental surfaces in 16 fitness facilities in Northeast Ohio in the USA were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, a common gram-positive bacterium species found in the nose and throat of humans. On the other hand, most fungal sources are located outdoors, e.g., soil, plants, and water bodies.…”