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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Abstract
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a public health threat within the general community, thereby warranting identification of MRSA reservoirs within the community. Computer terminals in schools were sampled for S. aureus and methicillin-resistant staphylococci. The overall prevalence of MRSA on computer keyboards was low: 0.68% for a postsecondary institution and 2% and 0% for two secondary institutes. The MRSA isolate from the postsecondary institution did not correspond to the Canadian epidemic clusters, but is related to the USA 700 cluster, which contains strains implicated in outbreaks within the U.S.
The isolate from the secondary institute's keyboard was typed as CMRSA7 (USA 400), a strain that has been implicated in both Canadian and U.S. epidemics. Methicillin-resistant S. haemolyticus and S. epidermidis were also isolated from keyboards, indicating that a mixed community of methicillin-resistant staphylococci can be present on keyboards. Although the prevalence was low, the presence of MRSA combined with the high volume of traffic on these student computer terminals demonstrates the potential for public-access computer terminals and computer rooms at educational institutes to act as reservoirs.
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Introduction
Staphylococcus species are commonly divided into two groups: pathogenic S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). CoNS include multiple species and are generally regarded as only opportunistically pathogenic. The frequency of methicillin resistance in CoNS is notably high and it has been suggested that this may provide a reservoir to propagate methicillin resistance into other Staphylococcus species (Lindsay & Holden, 2004).
The occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals was first reported in 1961 (Jevons, 1961). Numerous nosocomial MRSA outbreaks occur annually due to the widespread prevalence of MRSA within hospitals (Klein, Smith, & Laxminarayan, 2007). Recently, highly virulent strains of MRSA have been identified in individuals with no history of recent hospitalizations and no evidence of having predisposing risk factors. These strains have been referred to subsequently as community-associated MRSA (CAMRSA) and have become a global infectious threat (reviewed in Diep & Otto, 2008). In the U.S., 33% of current MRSA infections are due to infections of community origin (Klevens et al., 2007).
Compared to the U.S., Australia, and other nations, MRSA rates in Canada have been relatively low; however, they have increased 16-fold from 1995 to...