Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing
ABSTRACT Nosocomial transmission of pathogens is a major health care challenge. The increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant strains represents an ongoing threat to public health. Previous Staphylococcus aureus transmission studies have focused on transmission of S. aureus between asymptomatic carr...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2014-10-01
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| Series: | mBio |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01692-14 |
| _version_ | 1818856654102331392 |
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| author | S. Wesley Long Stephen B. Beres Randall J. Olsen James M. Musser |
| author_facet | S. Wesley Long Stephen B. Beres Randall J. Olsen James M. Musser |
| author_sort | S. Wesley Long |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Nosocomial transmission of pathogens is a major health care challenge. The increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant strains represents an ongoing threat to public health. Previous Staphylococcus aureus transmission studies have focused on transmission of S. aureus between asymptomatic carriers or used low-resolution typing methods such as multilocus sequence typing (MLST) or spa typing. To identify patient-to-patient intrahospital transmission using high-resolution genetic analysis, we sequenced the genomes of a consecutive set of 398 S. aureus isolates from sterile-site infections. The S. aureus strains were collected from four hospitals in the Houston Methodist Hospital System over a 6-month period. Importantly, we discovered no evidence of transmission of S. aureus between patients with sterile-site infections. The lack of intrahospital transmission may reflect a fundamental difference between day-to-day transmission events in the hospital setting and the more frequently studied outbreak scenarios. IMPORTANCE Previous studies have suggested that nosocomial transmission of S. aureus is common. Our data revealed an unexpected lack of evidence for intrahospital transmission of S. aureus between patients with invasive infections. This finding has important implications for hospital infection control and public health efforts. In addition, our data demonstrate that highly related pools of S. aureus strains exist in the community which may complicate outbreak investigations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:27:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2cf771d7339c4d72beeabf42244a3082 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-7511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T08:27:56Z |
| publishDate | 2014-10-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | mBio |
| spelling | doaj.art-2cf771d7339c4d72beeabf42244a30822022-12-21T20:29:16ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112014-10-015510.1128/mBio.01692-14Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome SequencingS. Wesley Long0Stephen B. Beres1Randall J. Olsen2James M. Musser3Center for Molecular and Translational Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USACenter for Molecular and Translational Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USACenter for Molecular and Translational Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USACenter for Molecular and Translational Infectious Diseases, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USAABSTRACT Nosocomial transmission of pathogens is a major health care challenge. The increasing spread of antibiotic-resistant strains represents an ongoing threat to public health. Previous Staphylococcus aureus transmission studies have focused on transmission of S. aureus between asymptomatic carriers or used low-resolution typing methods such as multilocus sequence typing (MLST) or spa typing. To identify patient-to-patient intrahospital transmission using high-resolution genetic analysis, we sequenced the genomes of a consecutive set of 398 S. aureus isolates from sterile-site infections. The S. aureus strains were collected from four hospitals in the Houston Methodist Hospital System over a 6-month period. Importantly, we discovered no evidence of transmission of S. aureus between patients with sterile-site infections. The lack of intrahospital transmission may reflect a fundamental difference between day-to-day transmission events in the hospital setting and the more frequently studied outbreak scenarios. IMPORTANCE Previous studies have suggested that nosocomial transmission of S. aureus is common. Our data revealed an unexpected lack of evidence for intrahospital transmission of S. aureus between patients with invasive infections. This finding has important implications for hospital infection control and public health efforts. In addition, our data demonstrate that highly related pools of S. aureus strains exist in the community which may complicate outbreak investigations.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01692-14 |
| spellingShingle | S. Wesley Long Stephen B. Beres Randall J. Olsen James M. Musser Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing mBio |
| title | Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing |
| title_full | Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing |
| title_fullStr | Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing |
| title_short | Absence of Patient-to-Patient Intrahospital Transmission of <named-content content-type="genus-species">Staphylococcus aureus</named-content> as Determined by Whole-Genome Sequencing |
| title_sort | absence of patient to patient intrahospital transmission of named content content type genus species staphylococcus aureus named content as determined by whole genome sequencing |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mBio.01692-14 |
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