We demonstrated that during colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae the nasal mucosal tissues of mice support two populations of pneumococci. Transparent-phase pneumococci can be readily washed from the outer surface, while a second population composed of primarily opaque-phase pneumococci is released only by homogenization of the nasal tissue. The fact that the opaque phase has previously b...

Untreated heavy nasal carriers of staphylococci have been reported to have staphylococci on their skin more frequently and to disseminate staphylococci in the air in larger numbers than either noncarriers or carriers of smaller numbers of these bacteria (1). If the nose is the main source of skin and aerial staphylococci, suppression of nasal staphylococci should be followed by a reduction in b...

Approximately 20% of the population is persistently colonized by Staphylococcus aureus in the nares. Th17-like immune responses mediated by the interleukin-17 (IL-17) family of cytokines and neutrophils are becoming recognized as relevant host defense mechanisms for resolution of S. aureus mucocutaneous infections. Since antimicrobial peptides are regulated by the IL-17 cytokines, we sought to ...

BACKGROUND Approximately 25% of Staphylococcus aureus carriers have exclusive throat carriage. We aimed to identify the populations at risk for exclusive throat carriage to improve sensitivity to detect carriers. METHODS Four groups underwent nasal and throat screening for S. aureus. Three groups of individuals in the community (n = 2632) with different estimated levels of exposure to the hea...

BACKGROUND A livestock-associated (LA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain sequence type 398 (ST398) is found related to animals and humans in Europe and North America. To evaluate the nasal carriage of MRSA among pigs and related workers in Taiwan, we conducted this study. METHODS From June 25 to October 1 2012, a total of 641 and 100 nasal swabs were obtained from pigs...

The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamics of nasal carriage by Staphylococcus aureus (SA) and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (SP) among healthy dog-owning household members involved in 7 previous index cases of suspected anthropozoonotic (n = 4) and zoonotic (n = 3) interspecies transmission [4 direct cases, identical SA (n = 3) or SP (n = 1) in owner and dog; three indirect,...

BACKGROUND Antibiotics are frequently used among people with sickle cell anemia (homozygous SS or HbSS disease), especially for prophylaxis. However, the relationship between antibiotic resistance and people with HbSS disease has not been adequately studied, especially in the developing world. The objectives of the study were (1) to compare antibiotic resistance patterns of nasal Staphylococcus...

Staphylococcus aureus is an epidemiologically important pathogen. Nasal colonization occurs in approximately 27% of healthy individuals. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization is increasing among the healthcare personnel in US hospitals, and the percentage of MRSA isolated from hospitals in Louisiana has almost doubled over the past decade.1 Although a variety of studies have...

Background: Staphylococcus aureus, particularly methicillin resistant (MRSA), is a common pathogen among patients receiving hemodialysis. To understand MRSA carriage rate among these patients in different hospital levels, we conducted this study. Materials and Methods: From January 2011 to June 2011, two nasal samplings with a 3-month interval were obtained from 161 patients (totally 265 sampli...

Several clinical scoring systems for diagnosis of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in calves have been proposed. However, such systems were based on subjective judgment, rather than statistical methods, to weight scores. Data from a pair-matched case-control study on a California calf raising facility was used to develop three novel scoring systems to diagnose BRD in preweaned dairy calves. Dis...