Staphylococcal species heterogeneity in the nasal microbiome during antibiotic prophylaxis. Staphylococci

Staphylococci are a major consistent of the nasal microbiome and a frequent cause of hospital acquired infection. Antibiotic surgical prophylaxis is administered prior to surgery to reduce a patients risk of post-operative infection, however its impact on the nasal staphylococcal microbiome is largely unknown. Using tuf gene fragment amplicon sequencing we determined the effect of surgical prophylaxis administration on the nasal staphylococcal microbiome by analysis of longitudinal samples. Administration of surgical prophylaxis did not substantially alter the diversity of the staphylococcal species present in the nose; however antibiotics did impact on the relative abundance of the staphylococcal species present. This is the first culture independent study to use the tuf gene fragment to study the nasal staphylococcal microbiome in depth and revealed the impact of surgical prophylaxis.