Previous Article | Next Article 
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1999, p. 3133-3140, Vol. 37, No. 10
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Follow-Up of Staphylococcus aureus Nasal
Carriage after 8 Years: Redefining the Persistent Carrier
State
Marjolein F. Q.
VandenBergh,*
Ed P. F.
Yzerman,
Alex
van
Belkum,
Hélène A. M.
Boelens,
Marly
Sijmons, and
Henri A.
Verbrugh
Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
Received 23 December 1998/Returned for modification 27 February
1999/Accepted 14 July 1999
Studies of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage have
distinguished three carriage patterns: persistent, intermittent, and noncarriage. The criteria used to identify these carriage patterns have
been inconsistent. In 1988 the S. aureus nasal carrier
index, i.e., the proportion of nasal swab specimen cultures yielding S. aureus, was determined for 91 staff members of various
departments of a large university hospital by obtaining weekly nasal
swab specimens for culture over a 12-week period. Thirty-three (36%) persons had carrier indices of 0.80 or higher, 15 (17%) had indices between 0.1 and 0.7, and 43 (47%) had indices of zero. In 1995, 17 individuals with carrier indices of 0.80 or higher in 1988 were
available for reexamination. For 12 (71%) of these individuals, S. aureus was again isolated from a single nasal swab,
i.e., from each individual with a 1988 carrier index of 1.0 but from
only half of those with indices below 1.0. Genotyping (by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis and pulsed-field gel
electrophoresis) of all S. aureus strains showed that
strains isolated from only three individuals, all with 1988 carrier
indices of 1.0, in 1988 and 1995 showed genetic similarity. In
conclusion, persistent S. aureus nasal carriage is a unique
characteristic of a fraction of the population, and the attribute
"persistent" should be confined to those individuals for whom
serial nasal swab specimen cultures consistently yield S. aureus.
*
Corresponding author. Present address: Department of
Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Phone: (31) 24 3614369. Fax: (31) 24 3540216. E-mail: m.vandenbergh{at}mmb.azn.nl.

Present address: Regional Public Health Laboratory, Haarlem, The
Netherlands.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1999, p. 3133-3140, Vol. 37, No. 10
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Holtfreter, S., Nguyen, T. T. H., Wertheim, H., Steil, L., Kusch, H., Truong, Q. P., Engelmann, S., Hecker, M., Volker, U., van Belkum, A., Broker, B. M.
(2009). Human Immune Proteome in Experimental Colonization with Staphylococcus aureus. CVI
16: 1607-1614
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lebon, A., Labout, J. A. M., Verbrugh, H. A., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., van Wamel, W. J. B., van Belkum, A., Moll, H. A.
(2009). Role of Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Colonization in Atopic Dermatitis in Infants: The Generation R Study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
163: 745-749
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Vandecasteele, S. J., Boelaert, J. R., De Vriese, A. S.
(2009). Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Hemodialysis: What a Nephrologist Should Know. CJASN
4: 1388-1400
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lebon, A., Labout, J. A. M., Verbrugh, H. A., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., van Wamel, W., Moll, H. A., van Belkum, A.
(2008). Dynamics and Determinants of Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in Infancy: the Generation R Study. J. Clin. Microbiol.
46: 3517-3521
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nouwen, J., Schouten, J., Schneebergen, P., Snijders, S., Maaskant, J., Koolen, M., van Belkum, A., Verbrugh, H. A.
(2006). Staphylococcus aureus Carriage Patterns and the Risk of Infections Associated with Continuous Peritoneal Dialysis.. J. Clin. Microbiol.
44: 2233-2236
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Smith, E. M., Green, L. E., Medley, G. F., Bird, H. E., Dowson, C. G.
(2005). Multilocus Sequence Typing of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from High-Somatic-Cell-Count Cows and the Environment of an Organic Dairy Farm in the United Kingdom. J. Clin. Microbiol.
43: 4731-4736
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nouwen, J., Boelens, H., van Belkum, A., Verbrugh, H.
(2004). Human Factor in Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage. Infect. Immun.
72: 6685-6688
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Montesinos, I., Salido, E., Delgado, T., Cuervo, M., Sierra, A.
(2002). Epidemiologic Genotyping of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis at a University Hospital and Comparison with Antibiotyping and Protein A and Coagulase Gene Polymorphisms. J. Clin. Microbiol.
40: 2119-2125
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Koning, S., van Suijlekom-Smit, L. W A, Nouwen, J. L, Verduin, C. M, Bernsen, R. M D, Oranje, A. P, Thomas, S., van der Wouden, J. C
(2002). Fusidic acid cream in the treatment of impetigo in general practice: double blind randomised placebo controlled trial. BMJ
324: 203-203
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Gluck, U., Lecomte, F., Nouvellon, M., Levesque, H., Johnson, J. R., Harbarth, S., Gundlapalli, A. V., Samore, M. H., von Eiff, C., Becker, K., Peters, G.
(2001). Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus. NEJM
344: 1399-1401
[Full Text]
-
von Eiff, C., Becker, K., Machka, K., Stammer, H., Peters, G.
(2001). Nasal Carriage as a Source of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia. NEJM
344: 11-16
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Shapiro, M., Smith, K. J., James, W. D., Giblin, W. J., Margolis, D. J., Foglia, A. N., McGinley, K., Leyden, J. J.
(2000). Cutaneous Microenvironment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Seropositive and HIV-Seronegative Individuals, with Special Reference to Staphylococcus aureus Colonization. J. Clin. Microbiol.
38: 3174-3178
[Abstract]
[Full Text]