Staphylococcus aureus Colonization in Burn Patients

Objectivs: Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen in burn patients and contributes to mortality, however, the role of colonization with S. aureus in the course of the disease is less well described. Methods: The study aimed to determine the frequency of S. aureus colonization in 80 patients treated in a national burn centre in Uppsala, Sweden, during the first ten days of hospitalization in relation to length of stay, number of days before antibiotic treatment started and mortality; additionally, epidemiological relationship and phylogeny were analyzed. Results: A total of 38/80 (47.5%) patients tested positive for S. aureus upon admission, while 47 out of 65 patients who completed the 10-day study period (72%), were colonized with S. aureus. Patients, that were colonized at admission tended to stay longer at the burn centre, particularly when admitted with more severe conditions corresponding to a rBaux score >70 (p=0.05, R2=0.09). Patients carrying isolates of phylogroup 2 received antibiotic treatment approximately one day later than patients with isolates belonging to phylogroup 1 (p<0.05, R2= 0.09). Conclusions: The study findings suggest that screening for S. aureus colonization in burn patients upon admission, particularly in critically injured patients, could prove beneficial in optimizing antibiotic therapy.