Prevalence of colonization with community-associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among end-stage renal disease patients and healthcare workers

A study of nasal colonisation was carried out on 120 hospitalised dialysis inpatients and 100 HCWs at a 600-bed urban academic medical centre. Of 120 patients, 40 (33%) were colonised with S. aureus; 26 (65%) of these 40 were colonized with MRSA. Among the 26 MRSA isolates, 10 (38.5%) carried staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec type IV (i.e. CA-MRSA), and 7 of these 10 carried the genes for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin. Among 100 HCWs, 31 were colonised with S. aureus, including 6 with MRSA; 2 of the MRSA isolates belonged to CA-MRSA strains, and soft-tissue infections were reported in one of the HCWs and in the family member of the other HCW colonised with these strains. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2009;30:4–8.

Johnson LB, Jose J, Yousif F, et al.