PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Rohde, Rodney E. AU - Patterson, Tom AU - Covington, Barbara AU - Vásquez, Bob Edward AU - Redwine, Gerald AU - Carranco, Emillio TI - <em>Staphylococcus</em>, not MRSA? A Final Report of Carriage and Conversion Rates in Nursing Students AID - 10.29074/ascls.27.1.21 DP - 2014 Jan 01 TA - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science PG - 21--31 VI - 27 IP - 1 4099 - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/27/1/21.short 4100 - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/27/1/21.full SO - Clin Lab Sci2014 Jan 01; 27 AB - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and characterize staphylococcal carriage, possibly including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and conversion rates in nursing students across clinical semester rotations and to describe risk factors.DESIGN: A prospective longitudinal cohort design with six times of measurement. Data collected August 2010 to May 2012. Institutional Review Board approval (2010F5693)SETTING: Texas State University, San Marcos, TXPARTICIPANTS: Eighty-seven nursing students.INTERVENTIONS: A positive MRSA swab was considered an end point for participation. Intervention offered was bactroban (mupirocin) for nasal decolonization and an oral antibiotic, doxycycline; follow-up post treatment collection sample was done to verify decolonization prior to next clinical rotation.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Screening for Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA identification; confirmation and antibiotic susceptibility by Vitek 2; self-administered questionnaires delineating demographics and risk factors; panel logistic regression models by Stata version 13RESULTS: MRSA colonization did not increase. S. aureus incidence was 17.7 – 26.4%. Staphylococcal species incidence other than S. aureus increased (9.2 – 82.3%). The following odds ratio (OR) associations were found to be statistically significant: boil or skin infections with S. aureus (OR = 2.94, p &lt; .01), working or volunteering in a healthcare facility odds with species other than S. aureus (OR = 4.41, p &lt; .01) and gym and sports facilities odds with S. other (OR 2.45, p &lt; .01). The most frequently occurring species at Wave 5 was S. hominis (21 isolates) while the most frequently occurring species at Wave 6 was S. epidermidis (25 isolates).CONCLUSIONS: MRSA colonization did not increase during longitudinal study. S. aureus colonization remained fairly stable throughout the study (17 – 26%). Species colonization with non S. aureus species (e.g. S. hominis, S. epidermis, S. haemolyticus) increased significantly (9.2 – 82.3%) during clinical rotations. Knowledge of infection control and compliance may have contributed to an absence of MRSA colonization; however, the colonization by other staphylococci has been shown to be a risk factor for MRSA acquisition.ABBREVIATIONS: MRSA = Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; CA-MRSA = Community-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus; HA-MRSA = Healthcare-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MSSA = methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus; CLS = Clinical Laboratory Science; OR = odds ratio; CI = Confidence Interval; HCWs = Healthcare Workers; HAIs = Healthcare Associated Infections