Staphylococcus aureus concealed carriage estimation study v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Staphylococcus aureus concealed carriage estimation study (SUCCESS): a pilot study
IRAS ID
203931
Contact name
Martin Llewelyn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Staphylococci are a group of germs (known as staph) that live harmlessly on people’s skin but they can cause infections. The most common staph causing infection is Staphylococcus aureus (known as Staph aureus). Infection can be caused by other staph. Diagnosing staph infection can be difficult because samples can get contaminated by harmless staph on skin.
We recently investigated where patients catch Staph aureus from while in hospital. We used a new technique called whole-genome sequencing (WGS). WGS allows us to read a bacteria’s genetic code and compare codes from different bacteria to say how alike they are and whether someone has caught infection from someone else. Our results were surprising. After testing patients and staff on a ward we found little transmission but still patients seemed to catch Staph aureus. One reason could be because the methods used don’t always detect Staph aureus, so people appear to catch staph when in fact it was there all along. This might be because staph live in parts of the body we don’t test or because tests fail to detect it when it’s there.
This study aims to understand how often and why we fail to detect Staph aureus and whether this accounts for patients who appear to catch it. We will do this by swabbing patients before, during and after their hospital stay and perform detailed methods (including WGS) to evaluate them.
This project will allow us to determine how many patients truly carry Staph, where on the body it lives and whether some people carry Staph aureus in a form that is difficult to detect. In patients who catch (and lose) Staph aureus we will determine whether it is present in a form we currently don't detect. This will help us reduce transmission of Staph and prevent Staph infections.
REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/2111
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion