https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2956-0234
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Abstract
Purpose
Staphylococcus aureus carriage poses an increased risk of S. aureus infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the colonization of S. aureus among healthy individuals and to establish a prospective cohort and biobank for research in the health consequences of colonization.
Population and methods
The Danish Blood Donor S. aureus Carriage Study (DBDSaCS) was established in 2014. So far, a total of 6082 healthy participants have been included with nasal swabs and repeated swabs are performed at subsequent donations. Samples from the first 2217 participants were cultured using a two-step method to evaluate the effect of using enrichment broth. Furthermore, 262 participants were sampled from both the nares and the throat. All participants completed a questionnaire with self-reported health, anthropometric measurements, current smoking status, and physical activity. Plasma samples, nasal swab transport media, and S. aureus isolates were stored.
Results
The prevalence of S. aureus nasal colonization was 41%. The prevalence of colonization was higher in men (46%) than women (34%), lower for smokers, and decreased with increasing age (<25 years: 44% vs >55 years: 35%). In participants swabbed from the nose and throat, the prevalence of S. aureus colonization after enrichment was 55% with significantly higher prevalence in the throat (45%) than in the nose (40%). The use of an enrichment broth increased the proportion of S. aureus colonization.
Conclusion
We describe a large and growing cohort of healthy individuals established to investigate predictors for S. aureus carriage and the health consequences of carriage. Multiple projects using data from DBDSaCS linked with Danish health registers, biomarkers, and genetic markers are ongoing. Results will be published in the coming years.
Acknowledgment
We thank the Danish blood donors for their participation in The Danish Blood Donor S. aureus Carriage Study and The Danish Blood Donor Study as well as the staff at the blood centers and the Department of Clinical Microbiology involved in DBDSaCS making this study possible. We thank our collaborators: associate professor Cindy M. Liu and her research group from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, George Washington Milken Institute School of Public Health, and deCODE Genetics, Reykjavík, Iceland, for their contribution to the cohort. The DBDS is funded by The Danish Council for Independent Research – Medical Sciences (grant number: 09-069412); The Danish Administrative Regions (http://www.regioner.dk); The A.P. Møller Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Science; The Danish Bio- and Genome Bank (http://www.regioner.dk/rbgben). The DBDSaCS was supported by The Danish Council for Independent Research – Medical Sciences (grant number: DFF-1333-00147); Bloddonorernes Forskningsfond (FF4-2013/03 and FF4-2018/01); Aase & Ejnar Danielsens Fond (10-001077); National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1R01AI125562-01); A.P. Møller Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Science (17-L-0555); Aarhus University (18290985); Health Research Fund of Central Denmark Region (R5-A329); The Højmosegård Grant (2016-1840/124). None of the funders had any influence on study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.