Poor survival of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on inanimate objects in the public spaces.
We investigated the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus on shopping baskets in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Multilocus sequence typing was performed to determine the genotypes of S. aureus isolates, and then a polymerase chain reaction method was used to detect staphylococcal enterotoxins and antibiotic resistance genes. In addition, desiccation tolerance of S. aureus isolates was evaluated in vitro. Forty-six (6.2%) S. aureus isolates were collected from 740 shopping baskets, though only one MRSA strain was identified. In multilocus sequence typing findings, ten sequence types and 24 singletons were classified, which were divided into ten clonal complexes and six singletons. The most frequent staphylococcal enterotoxin gene was seg (30.4%). Our in vitro findings demonstrated that 70% of the S. aureus isolates, including the MRSA strain, became undetectable at 12 h after desiccation at an appropriate cell density, while the others remained viable for up to 24 h. Thus, it is difficult for MRSA organisms to survive on dry surfaces found in public areas. We speculated that inanimate objects in the community are unlikely to be a potential source for transmission of MRSA and that S. aureus on such objects outside of hospital settings is not a public health threat.
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.
Hisanori
H
Domon
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.|Department of Life Science Reserch Center, Nagano Children's Hospital, Toyoshina, Azumino, Nagano, Japan.
Yoshio
Y
Uehara
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.
Masataka
M
Oda
Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Okocho Kohasu, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan.
Hiromi
H
Seo
Department of Life Science Reserch Center, Nagano Children's Hospital, Toyoshina, Azumino, Nagano, Japan.
Noriko
N
Kubota
Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan.
Yutaka
Y
Terao
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003890:Desiccation; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011633:Public Facilities; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D018089:Superantigens / Q000235:genetics
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004768:Enterotoxins; D018089:Superantigens; C419397:enterotoxin G, staphylococcal
Desiccation tolerance; Staphylococcus aureus.; inanimate objects; multilocus sequence typing; public spaces