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Updated: May 2, 2026

Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA
Published on: February 9, 2011
Higher prevalence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among dental students
F J Martínez-Ruíz1, T Y Carrillo-Espíndola1, J Bustos-Martínez2
1Laboratorio de Microbiología, Posgrado de la Facultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
Abstract:
In order to test the hypothesis that more dental students are meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers than non-dental students, 100 dental students with five to six years of exposure to patients and 81 non-dental students were tested for nasal and pharyngeal MRSA carriage by polymerase chain reaction. All 181 students were clinically healthy and none had taken antibiotics. Significantly more dental students (20/100) carried MRSA than non-dental students (5/81) (odds ratio: 4.04; 95% confidence interval: 1.6-12.6; P = 0.0033). Also, more dental students' mobile phones (8/100) carried MRSA. All MRSA isolates were distinguished by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis from epidemiologically significant strains. The results suggest that dental students are occupationally exposed to MRSA.
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