SaIR - Staphylococcus aureus infection reduction
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Staphylococcus aureus prevalence and risk factors for colonisation and infection in illicit substance users
IRAS ID
234130
Contact name
Prince Agyirey-Kwakye
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Fife
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium found on the skin of healthy individuals, and capable of causing soft skin and tissue infections, as well as invasive infections like bacteraemia which is increased in the presence of any breach in the skin, providing a portal of entry for bacteria. Over 20% of active illicit substance users have a current skin infection most typically caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Injection drug users (IDUs), are one of the most at risk group for community-acquired S. aureus bacteraemia (CA-SAB), with one in ten of IDUs admitted to hospital each year due to bacterial infections, and carriage or colonisation of S. aureus has been identified as a risk factor for subsequent invasive infection. But despite their large contribution to the incident of CA-SAB, very little is known about the S. aureus epidemiology in illicit substance users especially those who inject.
The purpose of this research is to recruit substance users accessing drug-related Recovery Services in Fife, and follow them sequentially over a period of 12 months, to determine the proportion carrying the S. aureus bacteria through nasal and/or groin swabs every 4 months, injection site or invasive infecting bacteria strains, and assess the factors which predicts persistent carriage of S. aureus and infection. We will also determine the genetic fingerprint of the S. aureus bacteria strains to understand how they circulate within the community, and the relation between carriage and infection strains. The participants to be recruited into this longitudinal cohort study are substance users (cohort 1 and 2), non-users of illicit substances (cohort 3).
The knowledge gained from this study would help us in the development, management and implementation of appropriate evidence based infection control measures aimed at reducing the high incidence of S. aureus infections in substance users within the community.REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
17/SS/0148
Date of REC Opinion
24 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion