title: Mupirocin treatment of nasal staphylococcal colonization.
abstract: The effectiveness and safety of mupirocin calcium ointment applied to the anterior part of the nares for 5 days in the eradication of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus was investigated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Subjects were healthy medical center staff who had two positive cultures of the anterior nares for S aureus. Antimicrobial susceptibility, phage typing, and restriction endonuclease analysis of plasmid DNA were used to monitor the identity of relapsing and persisting strains. Mupirocin eliminated 74% of S aureus at early follow-up and 91% of original strains. At 4 weeks, 78% of the original strains were eradicated, whereas all of the placebo group remained colonized. Recolonization with mupirocin-resistant strains occurred in six patients, but these were of different phage and plasmid types from the original isolates. None of the subjects had serious adverse effects. Applied intranasally for 5 days, a calcium preparation of mupirocin in a paraffin base is effective in eliminating S aureus nasal carriage and is well tolerated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Scully
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Briones
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Neu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016712:Mupirocin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009666:Nose / Q000382:microbiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D016712:Mupirocin