Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control-Online Journal

Full Text of PDF (323K)
Article in Japanese

Nasal Staphylococcus aureus Carriage and Source of S. aureus on Hands in Nurses

Misato ENOMOTO, Izumo KANESAKA, Akiko KANAYAMA KATSUSE and Intetsu KOBAYASHI
Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Toho University Faculty of Nursing

We studied the effect of nasal Staphylococcus aureus carriage in nurses at a university hospital on the effectiveness of alcohol-based hand rubs. S. aureus was isolated from the nasal cavities and hands of nurses before the beginning of their shifts as well as immediately after using an alcohol-based hand rub and 30 min and 1, 2, and 4 h later. PFGE analysis of the S. aureus isolates confirmed genetic relatedness. During the 4 h after application of the alcohol-based hand rub, nurses performed routine activities with no restrictions.
Samples were obtained from 70 nurses. Among the 70 nurses, S. aureus was detected in the nasal cavity in 31 cases (44.3%). Furthermore, S. aureus was detected in 10 cases (32.3%) of the hands before alcohol-based hand rub, and in 8 cases, DNA patterns of nasal- and hand-derived strains were identical. Of the 10 cases (32.3%) in which S. aureus was detected on the hands during work, and 5 (16.1%) strains from hands showed the same DNA pattern as that of the strains from the nasal cavity. Moreover, in 39 cases (55.7%) in which S. aureus was not detected in the nasal cavity, S. aureus was detected in 10 cases (25.6%) during work. Furthermore, only one case showed the same DNA pattern from multiple hand samples.
Considering our findings that some of the S. aureus isolates detected in the hands were identical to those detected in the nasal cavity, it was revealed that nasal S. aureus carriage affects the efficacy of alcohol-based hand-rubbing products. This suggests that appropriate hand hygiene immediately before contact with the patient is crucial to prevent direct contact infections.

Key words：alcohol-based hand rub, healthcare worker, Staphylococcus aureus, nasal carriage, healthcare-associated infection

e-mail: misato-enomoto＠ns.toho-u.ac.jp

Received: December 1, 2022
Accepted: August 3, 2023

38 (6)：267─271,2023