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Nasal colonization with Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is prevalent in 20% to 40% of the general population; SA infections of the skin (and other sites) typically originate from this locus. Prospective studies in healthy people demonstrate that nasal carriage is persistent in some and intermittent in others, and many are never colonized, but why is unclear. Results of a study in 88 college students (32% SA carriers) suggest how SA colonization might be averted or eliminated.
The investigators evaluated whether S. epidermidis (SE), the most common commensal bacterium found in the nasal cavity, inhibits SA. Some strains of SE express a serine protease that destroys SA biofilms. In the study cohort, nasal carriage of SA was 19% in those who also ca…