K. Toshkova et al., The significance of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus as risk factorfor human skin infections, FEMS MICROB, 202(1), 2001, pp. 17-24
The present study was designed to investigate the significance and the rela
tionship between nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcal
skin infections. Thirty-one S. aureus strains, isolated from 12 patients w
ith chronic and recurrent skin infections, one patient with septicemia and
one patient with otitis externa were studied. The staphylococcal strains we
re isolated from the site of infection and from the anterior nares of each
patient. The identity of both strains of each pair could be demonstrated by
determination of phenotypic properties and by genotyping of the isolates.
The phenotypic properties included hemolytic activities, antibiotic resista
nce data, and the production of enterotoxins. The identity was additionally
confirmed by phage-typing, by determination of the size and the number of
repeats of the X region of spa gene, by determination of gene polymorphisms
of coa gene and by macro restriction analysis of the chromosomal DNA of th
e isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The present results showed
an identity of the S. aureus obtained from anterior nares and from skin inf
ection of each patient indicating the importance of nasal carriage of these
bacteria for development of human skin infection. (C) 2001 Federation of E
uropean Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All r
ights reserved.