title: Contamination of public transports by Staphylococcus aureus and its carriage by biomedical students: point-prevalence, related risk factors and molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant strains.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the contamination of public transports by Staphylococcus aureus and assess its carriage by biomedical students, focussing on the point-prevalence, related risk factors and molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant strains.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) isolated from handrails of buses (n = 112) and trains (n = 79) circulating in Porto and from nasal swabs of local university students (n = 475) were quantified, characterized by molecular typing methods and related to possible risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MRSA prevalence in buses (16.1%) was not significantly different from trains (8.9%). There was also no identifiable association between the counts of MSSA and MRSA in buses and trains and the number of travellers in each sampling day, specific routes (including those passing by main hospitals) or other risk factors. Of the students, 37.1% carried S. aureus, and having a part-time job or smoking were found to be risk factors for carriage. EMRSA-15 (ST22-SCCmecIVh) was the prevalent MRSA clonal lineage, found not only in the buses (n = 14) and trains (n = 2) but also in the single MRSA-carrier among the students. The characteristics of the community-associated Southwest Pacific MRSA clone were found in a single ST30-IVa isolate, which may suggest a recent SCCmec acquisition by an MSSA background in the community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The spread of EMRSA-15, a common hospital-associated lineage, among different public transports and as a nasal coloniser is of concern and warrants adequate public health control measures.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: ajmendes@icbas.up.pt.
authors.forename: Â
authors.initials: Â
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martins da Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rego
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Beça
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de microbiologia e tecnologia alimentar, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), Oeiras, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Conceição
authors.affiliation: Escola Superior de Saúde da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa (ESSCVP), Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aires-de-Sousa
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000193:education*; D002353:Carrier State; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058889:Molecular Typing; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014186:Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Biomedical students; MRSA; Public transport vehicles