Abstract
Objective Staphylococcus aureus strains can be disseminated during dental treatments and occasionally lead to the contamination and infection of patients and dentists, which is an important public health problem. The dynamics of the airborne propagation and the genetic diversity of S. aureus isolated in an academic dental clinic environment were investigated using isoenzyme typing.Material and MethodsThe isoenzymes of 44 previously reported isolates were obtained from fresh cultures and extracted using glass beads. Nine isoenzymes were investigated using multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE). The genetic diversity and relationship among the strains (electrophoretic type – ET) were determined using statistics previously described by Nei 25 (1972) and the SAHN grouping method (UPGMA algorithm).ResultsClonal pattern analyses indicated a high level of genetic polymorphism occurring among the 33 ETs, which were grouped into five taxa. Each taxon presented one or more clusters that were moderately related and that contained two or more identical/highly related isolates, revealing seasonal airborne propagation in these dental clinic environments.ConclusionsThese data suggest the occurrence of active microevolutionary processes in S. aureus as well as the possibility of environmental propagation during a 14-month time span. Such findings are important to show that multiuser academic dental clinics can retain certain strains that are spreadable to different niches.
Highlights
The dissemination of S. aureus is an important public health problem because its resistant strains are involved in severe infections, predominantly in children and hospitalized patients[21]
Among the species identified by microbiological studies, Streptococcus viridans and Staphylococcus spp. are the most prevalent microorganisms found on the surfaces of dental equipment[12], which includes the methicillin-resistant S. aureus that has been detected on the surfaces of dental operatories, airwater syringes, and reclining chairs[18]
The high discriminatory capacity (i.e., >98% probability that two unrelated S. aureus isolates sampled from the test population will be classified as different types or strains) of multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), which is based on the interpretation of enzyme electrophoretic patterns, was observed
Summary
The dissemination of S. aureus is an important public health problem because its resistant strains are involved in severe infections, predominantly in children and hospitalized patients[21]. High resistance rates against the antibiotics used for prophylaxis in Dentistry have been detected for pathogens associated with bacterial endocarditis such as S. aureus[19]. S. aureus strains can be disseminated during dental treatments and occasionally lead to the contamination and infection of patients and dentists[24]. Environment, and instruments can be contaminated with saliva, blood, or organic debris during routine dental treatment[29]. Several investigators have observed an increase in the amount of microorganisms during clinical procedures in a dental environment, suggesting contamination from aerosols and especially when highspeed handpieces or ultrasonic scalers are used[1,20]. Among the species identified by microbiological studies, Streptococcus viridans and Staphylococcus spp. are the most prevalent microorganisms found on the surfaces of dental equipment[12], which includes the methicillin-resistant S. aureus that has been detected on the surfaces of dental operatories, airwater syringes, and reclining chairs[18]
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