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Prospective, cross-sectional study on MSSA and MRSA colonisation in hospitalised children

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Abstract

There is a global trend for an increase in prevalence of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation in children. A decade ago, MRSA colonisation was studied in Swiss paediatric hospitals and revealed an extraordinarily low proportion (<1 %). The primary goal of this study was to determine if the current proportion of nasal colonisation with MRSA in hospitalised children was still favourable. We aimed to screen all children from the age of 0–16 years admitted to the paediatric and surgical wards at the University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) during 8 pre-defined surveillance weeks. After obtaining consent, a nasal swab was taken and analysed for growth of S. aureus. Furthermore, a standardised questionnaire was completed by interview with a parent. Of 535 eligible children, 340 (64 %) were enrolled. Mean age was 6.2 years (median 4.3, IQR 1 to 11.25), 111 (33 %) children were colonised with S. aureus but no MRSA was found.

Conclusion: The prevalence of MRSA in children admitted to the UKBB during this surveillance period was zero. General MRSA screening in hospitalised children continues to be unjustified in our area.

What is known:

• The prevalence of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation in children is increasing in many regions worldwide.

• Surveillance for MRSA colonisation in healthcare settings varies considerably.

What is new:

• Periodic and risk-factor-based surveillance for MRSA colonisation is sufficient when regional prevalence is low.

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Abbreviations

MRSA:

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

MSSA:

Methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus

UKBB:

University Children’s Hospital Basel

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge all participating patients as well as the staff of UKBB for their cooperation in conducting this study and especially for organising the test materials. The first author (KJ) would also like to acknowledge the laboratory staff of the Microbiology Laboratory, University Hospital Basel, for their assistance in carrying out the microbiologic investigations, and Timo Tondelli for assistance with statistical analyses.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Consent to participate statement

All persons (parents and children, depending on age) gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

Authors’ contributions

Kristen Johnson was the study coordinator and recruited all study patients, conducted interviews to collect the data, performed nasal swabs and the microbiological investigations, carried out all data analyses, drafted the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. Reno Frei contributed to concept and design of the study, supervised the microbiological investigations, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. Ulrich Heininger conceptualized and designed the study, supervised patient recruitment, data collection and analyses, critically reviewed the draft manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Children’s Hospital, Spitalstrasse 33, PO Box, CH 4031, Basel, Switzerland

    Kristen Johnson & Ulrich Heininger

  2. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Kristen Johnson & Ulrich Heininger

  3. Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Reno Frei

Authors
  1. Kristen Johnson
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  2. Reno Frei
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  3. Ulrich Heininger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrich Heininger.

Additional information

Communicated by David Nadal

This work is the master thesis of Kristen Johnson at the Medical Faculty of the University Basel, Switzerland.

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Johnson, K., Frei, R. & Heininger, U. Prospective, cross-sectional study on MSSA and MRSA colonisation in hospitalised children. Eur J Pediatr 174, 1255–1262 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2606-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2606-5

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