title: Prevalence and risk factors for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage among emergency department workers and bacterial contamination on touch surfaces in Erciyes University Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to determine Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) nasal carriage among emergency department (ED) workers, and bacterial contamination on hand-touch surfaces at ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  This single-centered study enrolled 105 ED workers and 190 hand-touch surfaces at ED in June 2014. Nasal and environmental samples for S. aureus carriage and for bacterial contamination were obtained. For isolation swabs were cultured on ChromAgar S. aureus and environmental samples first cultured in broth and antibiogram obtained by clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. A questionnaire was completed for each subject.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The S. aureus carriage rate was 18.1% (n=19), with 2.9% (n=3) MRSA positivity. There were two (1.9%) mobile phone positivities for S. aureus, one of them was MRSA, and a computer keyboard contamination for MRSA was also detected. All MRSA isolates were susceptible for the tested antibiotics. There was significant difference between gender (p=0.044) in terms of nasal carriage of S. aureus and MRSA, all three MRSA isolates were from females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that the carriage of MRSA was not affected by clinical exposure in the hospital because of the existing infection control policy in our hospital.
authors.affiliation: Erciyes University Halil Bayraktar Health Services Vocational School, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Muge
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oguzkaya-Artan
authors.affiliation: Erciyes University Medical Faculty Department of Medical Education, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Baykan
authors.affiliation: Kayseri Training and Research Hospital Department of Medical Microbiology, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Artan
authors.affiliation: Erciyes University Medical Faculty Department of Emergency Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Avsarogullari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Staphylococcus aureus; bacterial contamination; carriage; health care workers; risk factors