Characteristics and Clinical Correlations of Staphylococcus aureus Discovered in Stools from Children Hospitalized at a Secondary Hospital

Abstract

Purpose: Research on the clinical role of Staphylococcus aureus as a pathogen in acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children has been scarce. This study aimed to clarify the prevalence and clinical correlation of S. aureus detection in children with AGE. Methods: Fecal samples were collected from children with symptoms of AGE who visited a secondary hospital between January 2012 and December 2015. The samples were sent to the Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment to test for pathogenic organisms. Clinical patterns were analyzed through medical record review. Results: Among the 663 participants, the bacteria detection rate was 26.2% (n=174), the virus detection rate was 29.7% (n=197), and the non-detection rate was 43.1% (n=286). S. aureus was tested positive from 102 cases and was confirmed as a single pathogen in 53 cases. It was the third most common pathogen. The prevalence by age was highest (45.3%) in 0-2 year-olds. Most cases occurred in summer. Symptoms included diarrhea (71.7%), vomiting (67.9%), fever (49.1%), and abdominal pain (37.7%). Only vomiting showed a significant difference between the S. aureus group and the non-detection group (67.9% vs. 43.0%; P=0.001). Among enterotoxins, the higher incidence of vomiting was associated with classical staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE) and SEH (P=0.027). Conclusions: S. aureus was the bacteria commonly isolated from children with AGE. Our study identified cases of staphylococcal AGE in children based on fecal samples and

Causes of acute gastroenteritis in Korean children between 2004 and 2019

“…Since 2015, pathogenic E. coli has been increasingly detected and is the most common, were the most common enterotoxins, whereas SEA (28%) was relatively uncommon, unlike previous studies (64). S. aureus and C. perfringens were the most common bacteria in an infant study (25).…”

“…In older children, Campylobacter spp. was the most common [ 64 , 65 ]. In a domestic pediatric staphylococcal food poisoning study, seg (83%) and sei (77%) were the most common enterotoxin genes, whereas sea (28%) was relatively uncommon, unlike previous studies (64).…”

Toxin gene and antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus isolated from kitchen cleaning tools in child care centers

“…As Staphylococcus aureus also resides on human hands and skin, cross-contamination must be avoided. S. aureus contains 16 types of enterotoxins: SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, SEE, SEG, SEH, SEI, SEJ, SEK, SEL, SEM, SEN, SEO, SEP, and SEQ (Cho et al, 2011;Shin et al, 2018). In the current status of the outbreak of S. aureus, it has been reported that the occurrence of SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE-toxins is the most common (Cho et al, 2011).…”