“Gesundheit!” Sneezing, Common Colds, Allergies, andStaphylococcus aureusDispersion

Abstract

Nasal S. aureus carriers disperse a significant amount of S. aureus into the air by sneezing. Experimental colds do not alter bacterial dispersal, but respiratory allergies multiply the effect of dispersing S. aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage during the infectious diseases national congress in France

“…[23]. The quantity of S. aureus is even greater when the carrier is infected by a rhinovirus [24] or if he presents with allergic rhinitis [25]. But no study can document the volatility of the bacterium from a swab.…”

A review of the risks and disease transmission associated with aerosol generating medical procedures

“…Whether these 'superspreaders' simply produced significantly higher titres of virus than others, and/or aerosolised more virus, or environmental/practice/ventilation systems were to blame for the subsequent cases is uncertain. The aerosol dispersal of unusually high numbers of micro-organisms from particular individuals has been observed with bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci ( Bischoff et al, 2006 ( Yu et al, 2007 ). Several of the published studies cite a single patient undergoing an AGP as being the possible cause of nosocomial transmission to HCWs ( Christian et al, 2004 ;Wong et al, 2004 ;Varia et al, 2003 ).…”

Epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus colonization in healthy Venezuelan children

“…Moreover, several studies have shown increased S. aureus nasal colonization among patients with respiratory and non-respiratory allergies compared to the general population [11, 12]. In addition, symptomatic allergic rhinitis leads to an increase in the airborne dispersal of S. aureus [13, 14]. …”