Title | Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus into the air associated with a rhinovirus infection. | ||
Author | Bassetti, Stefano; Bischoff, Werner E; Walter, Mark; Bassetti-Wyss, Barbara A; Mason, Lori; Reboussin, Beth A; D'Agostino, Ralph B Jr; Gwaltney, Jack M Jr; Pfaller, Michael A; Sherertz, Robert J | ||
Journal | Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol | Publication Year/Month | 2005-Feb |
PMID | 15756892 | PMCID | -N/A- |
Affiliation | 1.Section on Infectious Diseases, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. |
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether healthy adult nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus can disperse S. aureus into the air after rhinovirus infection. DESIGN: We investigated the "cloud" phenomenon among adult nasal carriers of S. aureus experimentally infected with a rhinovirus. Eleven volunteers were studied for 16 days in an airtight chamber wearing street clothes, sterile garb, or sterile garb plus surgical mask; rhinovirus inoculation occurred on day 2. Daily quantitative air, nasal, and skin cultures for S. aureus; cold symptom assessment; and nasal rhinovirus cultures were performed. SETTING: Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Wake Forest University undergraduate or graduate students who had persistent nasal carriage of S. aureus for 4 or 8 weeks. RESULTS: After rhinovirus inoculation, dispersal of S. aureus into the air increased 2-fold with peak increases up to 34-fold. Independent predictors of S. aureus dispersal included the time period after rhinovirus infection and wearing street clothes (P < .05). Wearing barrier garb but not a mask decreased dispersal of S. aureus into the air (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Virus-induced dispersal of S. aureus into the air may have an important role in the transmission of S. aureus and other bacteria.