NARES_GI2-CESPU-2023 - Nasal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus in Health Sciences students: insights into lifestyle factors, antimicrobial resistance and virulence profiles.
admin-cespu
Principal Investigator:
Ana Raquel Pinho Freitas Fernandes
Leader Institution:
1H-TOXRUN - CESPU
Research Team:
Carla Alexandra Novais de Oliveira e Silva; Sandra Maria Basílio Quinteira; Carla Isabel Silva Miranda; Cristina Maria Leal Moreira Coelho; Maria do Pranto Valente Braz; Patricia Manuela Moreira Pacheco; Rui Miguel Simões de Azevedo; Joana Correia Prata; Carla Manuela Moutinho Campos
Funding entity:
CESPU
Budget:
4.200€
Period covered:
22.04.2024 - 21.04.2025
Abstract:
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global threat to modern medicine, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being a leading cause of AMR-associated deaths worldwide. S. aureus, a significant human pathogen, can colonize healthy individuals and cause from soft to severe and fatal infections, particularly MRSA, which are often more resistant to antibiotics. Methicillin-susceptible strains (MSSA) are usually genetically distinct from MRSA, but increasingly linked to highlyvirulent strains involved in serious infections, both in hospitals and community settings. As S. aureus carriage is associated with an increased risk of MSSA or MRSA invasive infection, NARES aims to analyse the nasal carriage rate of S. aureus in IUCS students, to characterize their AMR and virulence profiles, and to explore lifestyle factors significantly linked to positive cases. Surveillance studies like this are particularly critical in countries where MRSA have been endemic in hospitals for years and S. aureus rates are among the highest in Europe, as is the case of Portugal.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global threat to modern medicine, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being a leading cause of AMR-associated deaths worldwide. S. aureus, a significant human pathogen, can colonize healthy individuals and cause from soft to severe and fatal infections, particularly MRSA, which are often more resistant to antibiotics. Methicillin-susceptible strains (MSSA) are usually genetically distinct from MRSA, but increasingly linked to highlyvirulent strains involved in serious infections, both in hospitals and community settings. As S. aureus carriage is associated with an increased risk of MSSA or MRSA invasive infection, NARES aims to analyse the nasal carriage rate of S. aureus in IUCS students, to characterize their AMR and virulence profiles, and to explore lifestyle factors significantly linked to positive cases. Surveillance studies like this are particularly critical in countries where MRSA have been endemic in hospitals for years and S. aureus rates are among the highest in Europe, as is the case of Portugal.