title: Higher prevalence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among dental students.
abstract: In order to test the hypothesis that more dental students are meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers than non-dental students, 100 dental students with five to six years of exposure to patients and 81 non-dental students were tested for nasal and pharyngeal MRSA carriage by polymerase chain reaction. All 181 students were clinically healthy and none had taken antibiotics. Significantly more dental students (20/100) carried MRSA than non-dental students (5/81) (odds ratio: 4.04; 95% confidence interval: 1.6-12.6; P = 0.0033). Also, more dental students' mobile phones (8/100) carried MRSA. All MRSA isolates were distinguished by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis from epidemiologically significant strains. The results suggest that dental students are occupationally exposed to MRSA.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología, Posgrado de la Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Martínez-Ruíz
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología, Posgrado de la Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Carrillo-Espíndola
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Atención a la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bustos-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Atención a la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamdan-Partida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Atención a la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Microbiología, Posgrado de la Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico. Electronic address: acostag@unam.mx.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Acosta-Gío
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D040421:Cell Phone; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013335:Students, Dental; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dental students; Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Occupational exposure