标题：Prevalence and Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus on Public Recreational Beaches in Northeast Ohio
摘要：Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus can cause severe life‐threatening illnesses such as sepsis and endocarditis. Although S. aureus has been isolated from marine water and intertidal beach sand, only a few studies have been conducted to assess prevalence of S. aureus at freshwater recreational beaches. As such, we aimed to determine prevalence and molecular characteristics of S. aureus in water and sand at 10 freshwater recreational beaches in Northeast Ohio, USA. Samples were analyzed using standard microbiology methods, and resulting isolates were typed by spa typing and multilocus sequence typing. The overall prevalence of S. aureus in sand and water samples was 22.8% (64/280). The prevalence of methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was 8.2% (23/280). The highest prevalence was observed in summer (45.8%; 55/120) compared to fall (4.2%; 5/120) and spring (10.0%; 4/40). The overall prevalence of Panton‐Valentine leukocidin genes among S. aureus isolates was 21.4% (15/70), and 27 different spa types were identified. The results of this study indicate that beach sand and freshwater of Northeast Ohio were contaminated with S. aureus, including MRSA. The high prevalence of S. aureus in summer months and presence of human‐associated strains may indicate the possibility of role of human activity in S. aureus contamination of beach water and sand. While there are several possible routes for S. aureus contamination, S. aureus prevalence was higher in sites with wastewater treatment plants proximal to the beaches.
Plain Language Summary
Previous studies have examined the presence of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus on marine beaches, but a rigorous study of freshwater beaches was lacking. We investigated S. aureus presence and proximity to wastewater treatment plants on 10 beaches in Northeast Ohio. We found S. aureus in 22.8% of our samples (64/280). Prevalence was higher in summer than fall. Prevalence was also higher in sites with wastewater treatment plants close to the beaches.
Key Points
A total of 280 samples was collected from 10 beaches on Northeast Ohio lakes; distances to sources of treated sewage effluent were examined
Overall prevalence of S. aureus was 22.8% (64/280); prevalence was higher in sites with wastewater treatment plants proximal to the beaches
More than one fifth of the positive S. aureus isolates harbored PVL genes, and almost one third of the isolates were ST 8
