Prevalence of Nasal Colonization by Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus aureusin Persons Using a Homeless Shelter in Kansas City.
Nasal colonization of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) plays an important role in the epidemiology and pathogenesis of disease. Situations of close-quarter contact in groups are generally regarded as a risk factor for community-acquired MRSA strains due to transmissionviafomites and person-to-person contact. With these criteria for risk, homeless individuals using shelter facilities, including showers and toilets, should be considered high risk for colonization and infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of nasal colonization of MRSA in a homeless population compared to established rates of colonization within the public and a control group of subjects from a neighboring medical school campus, and to analyze phylogenetic diversity among the MRSA strains. Nasal samples were taken from the study population of 332 adult participants and analyzed. In addition, participants were surveyed about various lifestyle factors in order to elucidate potential patterns of behavior associated with MRSA colonization. Homeless and control groups both had higher prevalence of MRSA (9.8 and 10.6%, respectively), when compared to the general population reported by previous studies (1.8%). However, the control group had a similar MRSA rate compared to health-care workers (4.6%), while the homeless population had an increased prevalence. Risk factors identified in this study included male gender, age over 50 years, and use of antibiotics within the past 3 months. Phylogenetic relationships between nine of the positive samples from the homeless population were analyzed, showing eight of the nine samples had a high degree of relatedness between thespaAgenes of the MRSA strains. This indicates that the same MRSA strain might be transmitted from person-to-person among homeless population. These findings increase our understanding of key differences in MRSA characteristics within homeless populations, as well as risks for MRSA associated with being homeless, such as age and gender, which may then be a useful tool in guiding more effective prevention, treatment, and health care for homeless individuals.
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Megan
M
Ottomeyer
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine , Reno, NV , USA.
Charles D
CD
Graham
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Missouri-Kansas City , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Avery D
AD
Legg
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Elizabeth S
ES
Cooper
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Chad D
CD
Law
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Mariam
M
Molani
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Karine
K
Matevossian
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Jerry
J
Marlin
Children's Mercy Hospital , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Charlott
C
Williams
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Ramon
R
Newman
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine , Rochester, MI , USA.
Jason A
JA
Wasserman
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences , Kansas City, MO , USA.
Larry W
LW
Segars
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine , Rochester, MI , USA.
Tracey A H
TA
Taylor
MRSA; Staphylococcus aureus; colonization; community-acquired; homeless