Biology subjects

Smith, T. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Smith, T. C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2017

Staphylococcus aureus Colonization And Familial Transmission Over A One Year Period

Methods177 adults and 86 minors comprising 95 family units were enrolled from two counties in Iowa and followed up for 52 weeks. Random effects logistic regression was used to test the effect of different risk factors on the probability of an individual falling into a different S. aureus colonization categories. Additionally, the frequency of S. aureus colonization events and familial transmission events were calculated.\n\nResultsThe number of positive environmental sites within a participants house was associated with being a persistent carrier compared to being a non-carrier or intermittent carrier. Age, sharing bath towels, and the number of positive environmental sites within a participants house were associated with being a persistent or intermittent carrier. Colonization events per year were 3.95 for adults and 3.04 for minors. Duration of colonization was longest for persistent carriers (92.3 days for adults and 97.8 days for minors), and intermittent carriers had the most colonization events.\n\nConclusionsThe average duration of colonization was significantly different when comparing intermittent carriers and non-carriers. We have also established estimates of the duration of colonization and the frequency of transmission events among family units in a non-healthcare population.

epidemiology↗

bioRxiv2017

The Nasal And Oropharyngeal Microbiomes Of Healthy Livestock Workers

Little information exists on the microbiomes of livestock workers. A cross-sectional, epidemiological study was conducted enrolling 59 participants (26 of which had livestock contact) in Iowa. Participants were enrolled in one of four ways: from an existing prospective cohort study (n=38), from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Animal Feeding Operations database (n=17), through Iowa county fairs (n=3), and through snowball sampling (n=1). We collected two sets of swabs from the nares and oropharynx of each participant. The first set of swabs was used to assess the microbiome via 16s rRNA sequencing and the second was used to culture S. aureus. We observed livestock workers to have greater diversity in their microbiomes compared to those with no livestock contact. In the nares, there were 26 operational taxonomic units found to be different between livestock workers and non-livestock workers with the greatest difference seen with Streptococcus and Proteobacteria. In the oropharynx, livestock workers with swine exposure were more likely to carry several pathogenic organisms. The results of this study are the first to characterize the livestock worker nasal and oropharyngeal microbiomes.

epidemiology↗

bioRxiv2017

The Oropharynx As A Distinct Colonization Site For Staphylococcus aureus In The Community

BackgroundS. aureus is a frequent cause of hospital and community associated infections and colonization is known to increase the risk of infection, with the nares considered the most important colonization site.\n\nMethodsWe compared the prevalence of nasal and oropharyngeal carriage in a yearlong, prospective cohort study of people from the community as well as assessed risk factors for nares-only and oropharynx-only colonization.\n\nResultsColonization at both anatomical sites was correlated; however, oropharynx only carriage occurred and oropharyngeal swabs were more sensitive than nasal swabs at detecting carriage (77.27% and 72.725 respectively). Non-Caucasian race, having a greater number of people living in your home and more children in your home all significantly increased the odds of oropharynx-only carriage. Having S. aureus present on home environmental sites, exercising in a fitness center, and sharing bath towels all increased the odds of nares-only carriage.\n\nConclusionsOropharyngeal swabs increase the detection of S. aureus colonization in community embers.

epidemiology↗