title: Prevalence of antibody to toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 in burn patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burn wounds lack normal barriers that protect against pathogenic bacteria, and burn patients are easily colonized and infected by Staphylococcus aureus. Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare but fatal disease caused by S. aureus. A lack of detectable antibodies to TSS toxin-1 (TSST-1) in serum indicates susceptibility to TSS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 207 patients (169 men and 38 women; median age, 42.5 yr) admitted to a burn center in Korea were enrolled in this study. The serum antibody titer to TSST-1 was measured by sandwich ELISA. S. aureus isolates from the patients' nasal swab culture were tested for TSST-1 toxin production by PCR-based detection of the TSST-1 toxin gene.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred seventy-four (84.1%) patients showed positive results for antibody against TSST-1. All patients aged ≥61 yr (n=28) and <26 months (n=7) were positive for the anti-TSST-1 antibody. S. aureus was isolated from 70 patients (33.8%), and 58.6% of the isolates were methicillin resistant. Seventeen patients were colonized with TSST-1-producing S. aureus. The antibody positivity in these 17 carriers was 88.2%, and the positivity in the non-carriers was 83.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most burn patients had antibody to TSST-1, and nasal colonization with TSST-1-producing S. aureus was associated with positive titers of anti-TSST-1 antibody. Additionally, patients with negative titers of anti-TSST-1 antibody might be susceptible to TSS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Heungjeong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Woo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002056:Burns / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D018089:Superantigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D018089:Superantigens; C030107:enterotoxin F, Staphylococcal
keywords: Antibodies; Burns; Prevalence; Staphylococcus aureus; Toxic shock syndrome; Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1