Staphylococcus aureus prevalence among preschool- and school-aged pupils
Abstract
Material and methods. A study of 243 preschool- and 300 school-aged pupils was conducted during 2003– 2004. Identification of Staphylococcus aureus was made with plasmacoagulase and DNase tests. The resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to antibiotics, b-lactamase activity, phagotypes, and phage groups were determined. The isolated Staphylococcus aureus strains were tested for resistance to methicillin by performing disc diffusion method using commercial discs (Oxoid) (methicillin 5 mg per disk and oxacillin 1 mg per disk).
Results. A total of 292 (53.8%) Staphylococcus aureus strains were isolated and identified (113 (46.5%) from preschool- and 179 (59.7%) from school-aged pupils). The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus strains among preschool-aged pupils varied from 46.5% to 47%. It increased to 59.0% (P>0.05) among schoolchildren aged from 11 to 15 years and to 73.0% (P<0.001) among schoolchildren aged from 16 to 19 years. Six methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus strains were isolated: two (1.8%) of them were from preschool-aged and four (2.2%) from school-aged pupils. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus strains with b-lactamase activity increased from 70.7 to 76.6% in preschool-aged pupils, and it varied from 72.0 to 79.0% in school-aged pupils (P>0.05). Staphylococcus aureus strains of phage group II (32.2–43.4%) were prevailing; nontypable Staphylococcus aureus strains made up 19.2–33.6%.
Conclusions. The prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus among preschool-aged children is 41.7 to 48.8%, and it increases among 9th–12th-grade pupils (73.0%, P<0.001). Some Staphylococcus aureus strains (2.1%) were resistant to methicillin. Staphylococcus aureus strains of phage group II (39.0%, P<0.05) are most prevalent among preschool- and school-aged pupils. Pupils were colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains belonging to phage group III phagotype 83A and 77.
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Pavilonytė, Ž.; Kačerauskienė, J.; Budrytė, B.; Keizeris, T.; Junevičius, J.; Pavilonis, A. Staphylococcus aureus prevalence among preschool- and school-aged pupils. Medicina 2007, 43, 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina43110115
Pavilonytė Ž, Kačerauskienė J, Budrytė B, Keizeris T, Junevičius J, Pavilonis A. Staphylococcus aureus prevalence among preschool- and school-aged pupils. Medicina. 2007; 43(11):887. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina43110115
Chicago/Turabian StylePavilonytė, Žaneta, Justina Kačerauskienė, Brigita Budrytė, Tadas Keizeris, Jonas Junevičius, and Alvydas Pavilonis. 2007. "Staphylococcus aureus prevalence among preschool- and school-aged pupils" Medicina 43, no. 11: 887. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina43110115