title: Oral carriage of enterobacteriaceae among school children with chronic nail-biting habit.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Onychophagia or habitual nail-biting is widespread among children and adolescents, between 10 and 18 years. Prevalence estimates range from 30% during childhood to 45% in adolescence. Nail-biting habit can result in autoinoculation of pathogens and transmission of infection between body parts.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to evaluate the differences in prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae (E. coli and Enterobacter spp) in saliva samples from subjects with and without chronic nail-biting habit.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty-two subjects with chronic nail-biting habit and 122 subjects with no oral habit were enrolled in the study. All subjects were aged 11-15 years. The saliva samples were collected by oral rinse technique, samples were studied microbiologically.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-tailed Student's t-test and Chi-square/Fisher's exact test were used to find the significance of study parameters between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Enterobacteriaceae were detected in the saliva samples of 80 of the 122 nail-biting subjects, whereas Enterobacteriaceae were detected in the saliva samples of only 10 of the 122 subjects who were not nail-biters. This difference in prevalence was statistically significant (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest a higher carriage of Enterobacteriaceae in the individuals having nail-biting habits when compared to individuals with no habits. Further studies need to be done to know the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae species in different age groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Vydehi Institute of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sushma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Karpagaselvi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sanjai
authors.forename: Jayalakshmi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumaraswamy
authors.forename: Lokesh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Papaiah
authors.forename: Mb
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jeevan
keywords: E. coli; Enterobacteriaceae; nail-biting; orofecal contamination; saliva