Molecular epidemiology of Staphyloccocus aureus colonization in the Old Order of Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus colonization in community-based populations is not well understood. We sought to describe the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus colonization in the Old Order Amish. The study was a prospective, observational study of healthy adults and their same-sex siblings who were cultured from the anterior nares twice. S. aureus isolates were characterized using spa typing. Overall, 40% (159/398) of the study population was colonized with S. aureus. There were 84 spa types with the most abundant spa types being t012 (13%) and t021 (7%). There was no clustering of spa types within sibling groups; however, there was clustering within households. There were 111 S. aureus-colonized participant pairs living within the same household. Of these, 47% had concordant spa types. The diversity of spa types across a relatively isolated, genetically homogenous population with a similar lifestyle is striking. Taken together this suggests that S. aureus transmission is a local phenomenon limited to very close contact.
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
M-C
MC
Roghmann
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
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N
Longinaker
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
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L
Croft
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
J K
JK
Johnson
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
A D
AD
Lydecker
University of Maryland School of Medicine,Baltimore, MD,USA.
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OC
Stine
D000328:Adult; D061365:Amish; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A / Q000235:genetics; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A