Prevalence of Staphylococcus spp. from human specimens submitted to diagnostic laboratories in South Africa, 2012–2017

Abstract

Background: Although staphylococci are commensals of the skin and mucosa of humans and animals, they are also opportunistic pathogens. Some coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (CoNS), such as S. haemolyticus and S. epidermidis, are reported to be zoonotic.Objectives: The prevalence of coagulase positive (CoPS), CoNS and coagulase-variable Staphylococcus spp. isolated from human clinical cases in South Africa was investigated.Method: Retrospective records of 404 217 diagnostic laboratory submissions from 2012 to 2017 were examined and analysed in terms of time, place and person.Results: Of the 32 different species identified, CoPS were the most frequently isolated (74.7%), followed by CoNS (18.9%). Just over half (51.2%) of the Staphylococcus isolates were from males, while females contributed 44.8%. Patients aged 0–4 years contributed the most (21.5%) isolates, with the highest number coming from KwaZulu-Natal (32.8%). Urinary specimens accounted for 29.8% of the isolates reported. There was no variation in the number of Staphylococcus isolates reported in the autumn (25.2%), winter (25.2%), spring (25.1%) and summer (24.5%) seasons.Conclusion: This study demonstrated the diversity of Staphylococcus spp. isolated from humans and the magnitude of infection, with the most predominant species being S. aureus and S. epidermidis.Contribution: Although most isolates were CoPS, the isolation of CoNS seen in this study suggests a need to improve infection control measures in a South African context. More research is needed to investigate the determinants of the observed variations in the study.

Assessment of handwashing impact on detection of SARS-CoV-2, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli on hands in rural and urban settings of Côte d’Ivoire during COVID-19 pandemic

“…However, this opportunistic pathogen bacterium, can escape our immune defenses, hide for prolonged periods of time asymptomatically in human body, even within blood cells, leading to an immune imbalance and disease development [ 45 ]. A flora of the skin, Staphylococcus spp., is associated with toxic shock syndrome, boils, impetigo, cellulitis and food poisoning [ 46 ], urinary tract infections, prostatitis, acute pyelonephritis and epididymitis [ 47 ]. Our findings are in line with those obtained in other studies reporting that the most commonly found bacterial isolate on hands was Staphylococcus spp.…”

Staphylococcal Resistance Patterns, blaZ and SCCmec Cassette Genes in the Nasopharyngeal Microbiota of Pregnant Women

“…Increasing resistance to beta-lactams is making antimicrobials, including beta-lactams, an increasingly ineffective therapy for treating staphylococcal infections. This phenomenon significantly limits the therapeutic options available to patients, including pregnant women, for whom there are relatively few treatment options [8,16,28,34]. This in turn may contribute to prolonged antibiotic therapy or discomfort associated with taking antibiotics and/or chemotherapeutics and thus an increased risk of complications.…”

“…This in turn may contribute to prolonged antibiotic therapy or discomfort associated with taking antibiotics and/or chemotherapeutics and thus an increased risk of complications. There are also major diagnostic difficulties with coagulase-negative microorganisms as there are no clear diagnostic recommendations for detecting resistance mechanisms in these microorganisms [8,16,23,25,31,34]. The issue of genetically determined resistance and drawing appropriate conclusions especially about CoNS resistance to penicillin is complicated by its production mechanism [16,34].…”

Prevalence of Culturable Bacteria and Yeasts in the Nasopharynx Microbiota during the Physiological Course of Pregnancy

“…The heterogeneous group of coagulase-negative staphylococci have historically been classified as nonpathogenic bacteria and are less frequently involved in clinically manifest infections [ 34 , 35 ]. Nowadays, due to patient- and diagnosis-related changes, CoNS represent one of the most important groups of nosocomial opportunistic pathogens, with S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus as the most important species [ 34 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Various CoNS species can be found as major colonizers on the surface of the mucous membranes of the respiratory and urogenital mucosa [ 35 , 39 , 40 ].…”