title: Colonisation of dentures by Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA in out-patient and in-patient populations.
abstract: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important human pathogen, and colonisation with this organism can result in localised or systemic infections which may be fatal. One hundred in-patients admitted to a London teaching hospital and 100 out-patients attending prosthetic dentistry clinics were recruited into this study. Of the 100 out-patients, 27 % harboured S. aureus on their dentures, compared to 33 % of in-patients. Only one out-patient had MRSA colonising their dentures whereas 12 % of the in-patients harboured MRSA. The median total bacterial count of the denture plaque samples was 6.2 × 10(7) cfu/sample and 6.9 × 10(7) cfu/sample for the out-patient and in-patient populations, respectively. In most instances, where present, S. aureus comprised less than 1 % of the total viable denture microbiota. Phage typing demonstrated that EMRSA-15 and non-typeable strains were harboured on dentures. The results of this study have revealed that dentures are a potential reservoir of MRSA and so account should be taken of these findings when planning decontamination procedures for elimination of this pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Eastman Dental Hospital, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, UK.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parmar
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Howlett
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kearns
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cookson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ready
mesh_terms: D058491:Bacterial Load; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D003778:Dentures / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010045:Outpatients; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology