Major articlePrevalence, risk factors, and molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among newly arrested men in Baltimore, Maryland
Section snippets
Study setting
The study was conducted in the Central Booking Intake Facility in Baltimore, MD from August to December 2006. Central Booking, the main intake center for persons arrested in Baltimore City, processes on average 175 new arrestees per day. The researcher was given access between 1 pm and 11 pm 5 days a week.
Subject selection
Subjects were eligible for participation by meeting the following criteria: arrested less than 24 hours before enrollment, male, age 21 years and older, and processed at the Central Booking
Demographics
A total of 678 persons were approached for participation. The enrolled sample comprised 602 arrested males, each of whom provided a nasal swab and wound culture if applicable. Demographic data also were collected on 67 of 75 (89.3%) persons who declined to participate but agreed to collection of demographic information. The remaining 8 subjects refused any participation. Demographic characteristics of the 2 groups were compared to evaluate bias in sample selection. The 2 samples were equivalent
Discussion
This is the first surveillance study to investigate S aureus and MRSA colonization at the time of arrest to identify the prevalence and risk profiles of persons entering a large city jail system. The prevalences of both S aureus (40.4%) and MRSA (15.8%) among nasal isolates were substantially greater than those estimated from the largest and most representative community analysis of the prevalence of MRSA colonization conducted to date, which noted S aureus and MRSA colonization prevalences of
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