Staphylococcus aureusColonization and Infection in New York State Prisons

Abstract

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is increasingly responsible for staphylococcal outbreaks in prison. There is limited information on the source of the outbreak strains, risk factors for infection, and transmission of these strains within a prison. We conducted a survey to determine the prevalence of nasal colonization with S. aureus in 2 New York State prisons. S. aureus isolates from clinical cultures collected from all New York State prisons during a 6-month period were compared with the colonizing strains. Analyses were conducted to determine whether prison-level characteristics were associated with colonization or infection with S. aureus. The colonization rate was 25.5% (124/487); 10.5% of the isolates were methicillin resistant, all were staphylococcal chromosomal cassette (SCC)mec type IV, and 61.5% were Panton Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive. Surprisingly, 21.6% of the methicillin-susceptible isolates were also PVL positive. Of the clinical isolates, 48.3% were methicillin resistant, with 93.1% of the latter being SCCmec type IV and 48.3% being PVL positive. The predominant clone was USA 300. Prison-level risk factors for infection included the proportion of inmates with drug offenses, the length of inmate stay, and the jail from which inmates originated. This study suggests that both new and long-term inmates act as sources of S. aureus strains, with the more virulent of the latter preferentially being selected as pathogens.

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Positive Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Auckland, New Zealand

“…In Auckland, PVL-positive MSSA was strongly associated with the diagnosis of SSTI; 48% of all MSSA isolates associated with SSTI were lukSF-PV positive. The reported incidence of PVL-positive MSSA SSTI in the literature ranges from 6.8% in a teaching hospital in Michigan (14) to 93% in a New York prison endemic with the PVL-positive USA300 MSSA strain (19). The 2006 New Zealand Census revealed that the total population of Auckland consisted of the following ethnic groups: 61% European, 7% Maori, 11% Pacific, and 21% Asian (24).…”

Nasal Colonization of and Clonal Transmission of Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus among Chinese Military Volunteers

“…Numerous studies of S. aureus nasal carriage have been carried out in various geographic regions in the United States and the Netherlands (2,5,7,21,23,27,28,41). Cross-section surveys of nasal carriage prevalence and transmission mechanisms in special healthy populations are beneficial in assessing risk factors associated with S. aureus infections (2,8,13,26,(32)(33)(34)(35). Military facilities provide unique opportunities for studying S. aureus nasal colonization and transmission (11,19,52).…”

Molecular characteristic of Staphylococcus aureus isolates in a Chinese teaching hospital

“…The prevalence of PVL-positive S. aureus was 2.3% in Chinese hospitals, but 12.8% in Wenzhou, China Yu et al, 2008). The prevalence of PVL-positive strains of S. aureus in Japan, Africa and the USA was 0.04, 14.7 and 48.3% (Kawaguchiya et al, 2011;Mesrati et al, 2010;Lowy et al, 2007), respectively. ST88 was the dominant clone among PVLpositive isolates.…”