Staphylococcus Aureus Carriage in French Athletes at Risk of CA-MRSA Infection: a Prospective, Cross-sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Epidemiology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is a significant cause of infections in sports teams.
• Community-associated SA (CA-SA) strains are increasingly prevalent globally and cause outbreaks in athletic populations.
• Limited data exists on SA prevalence and carriage among athletes in France.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the proportion of SA carriage among athletes in a French county.
• To identify the prevalence of methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA) and CA-SA strains.
• To analyze risk factors for SA carriage and study SA clonality.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study design.
• Inclusion of 300 athletes from sports with CA-SA infection risk.
• Analysis of SA carriage, MRSA/CA-SA proportion, risk factors, and clonality.

Main Results:

• SA carriage proportion was 61% (183/300 athletes).
• One MRSA carrier (0.33%) was identified, belonging to clonal complex ST5.
• A high rate of throat-only SA carriage (31.1%) was observed.

Conclusions:

• French athletes exhibit high SA carriage rates.
• Local SA epidemiology differs from that reported in the USA.
• Throat sampling is recommended for comprehensive SA carriage studies.