Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in a general surgical unit

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Abstract
Nasal carriage of staphylococci was found in 50 per cent of in-patients in a general surgical unit and in 26 per cent of out-patients. While 32 per cent of in-patients carried resistant organisms in their noses a high percentage of out-patients (17 per cent) also were carriers of resistant organisms. Eighty per cent of staff carried staphylococci in their noses, 67 per cent being resistant organisms. Although the ‘hospital staphvlococcus’ was found in 5 per cent of patients and 15 per cent of attending staff, only 1 per cent of in-patients and none of the out-patients or staff carried multiple-resistant organisms. Age does appear to have some bearing on the carriage of bacteria in the anterior nares. In contrast to other studies, this work failed to reveal any relationship between wound infection and nasal carriage of staphylococci. These findings suggess that general dissemination of bacteria in the hospital environment may be of greater importance than autoinfection as a cause of wound sepsis.