Once USA300 — a prevalent community-associated strain of methicillin-resistant Stephylococcus aureus — enters a home, it can stay there for years, spreading among inhabitants, according to a study published in mBio.
USA300 MRSA is highly antibiotic resistant, easily transmissible and can cause skin and soft tissue infections.
To study the transmission dynamics, genetic relatedness and microevolution the bacterial strain, researchers examined previous research on USA300 MRSA that was published in 2012. The clinical research involved collecting samples from 21 households in Chicago and Los Angeles where an inhabitant had recently visited the hospital for a skin infection caused by the strain.
The researchers then compared the data from the first study with samples they collected from San Diego and New York City, creating an evolutionary tree that maps the relationships of the bacterial strains.
Using the maps and data, the researchers found USA300 MRSA strains could liger in households for 2.3 to 8.3 years and has a one in a million chance of randomly genetically changing.
"The study adds to the knowledge base of how USA300 MRSA has spread throughout the country," according to Timothy D. Read, PhD, study coauthor and associate professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "We're also getting hints at how it evolves inside households. Decolonization of household members may be a critical component of prevention programs to control USA300 MRSA spread in the United States."
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