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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among dental patients: a problem for infection control in dentistry?

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Abstract

We assessed the frequency of carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among 500 dental patients of a university clinic. From each participant, two specimens were taken from the anterior nares and the pharynx and analysed by culture. The participants completed a questionnaire on possible risk factors of MRSA infection. Two hundred ten individuals carried S. aureus, 90 in the nares only, 51 in the throat only and 69 in nares and throat. Isolates of 208 patients were methicillin-sensitive; two isolates were methicillin-resistant, both carried in the throat exclusively. In conclusion, the frequency of nasal and/or throat carriers of MRSA among dental patients was low and suggests few opportunities of exposure in the dental clinic assessed.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Radiology and Oral Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Melanie Zimmerli & Andreas Filippi

  2. Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Andreas F. Widmer & Marc Dangel

  3. Laboratory of Diagnostic Bacteriology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Reno Frei

  4. Institute of Preventive Dentistry and Oral Microbiology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Basel, Hebelstrasse 3, 4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Jürg Meyer

Authors
  1. Melanie Zimmerli
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  2. Andreas F. Widmer
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  3. Marc Dangel
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  4. Andreas Filippi
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  5. Reno Frei
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  6. Jürg Meyer
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Correspondence to Jürg Meyer.

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Zimmerli, M., Widmer, A.F., Dangel, M. et al. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among dental patients: a problem for infection control in dentistry?. Clin Oral Invest 13, 369–373 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-008-0244-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-008-0244-2

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