Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and commensal of the nose and other body sites. S. aureus colonisation (carriage) increases the risk of infection, so identifying carriers is central to infection control; however, few studies have combined robust methods with sufficient statistical power to determine the risk factors for carriage. We recruited over 22,000 adults into the CARRIAGE cohort study, who each returned self-taken nasal swabs and a questionnaire weekly for three weeks. We show that in a multivariable analysis with correction for multiple testing that the only factors significantly associated with persistent S. aureus carriage were younger age (with carriage rates declining after 60), male sex, higher BMI, chronic skin conditions, and antibiotic use in the prior month. Many previously proposed factors, including smoking and livestock contact, were not significantly associated. Overall, we demonstrate that only a limited number of risk factors influence S. aureus colonisation
Source: Research Square
Authors: Ewan Harrison, Stephen Kaptoge, Beth Blane, Dinesh Aggarwal, Katherine Bellis, Róisín Boggan, Matthew Walker, Catarina Sousa, Carmel Moore, Amy Mc Mahon, Catherine Perry, Plamena Naydenova, Sophia Girgis, Joe Brennan, Asha Akram, Lauma Sarkane, Susan Burton, Elisha Johnson, Shannon Duthie, Svetlana Shadrina, Jess Middlemiss, Marta Matuszewska, Kathy Raven, Rachel Henry, Agnieszka Osmanska, Hannah Dingwall, Duncan Ng, Carol Churcher, Ellena Brooks, Annie Fletcher, Emma Fraser, James Groom, Ben Hyatt, Neenu Linson, Benjamin McCarthy, Nashma Pelamkulangara, Toska Wonfor, Carl Anderson, Adam Butterworth, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Joan Geoghegan, Julian Parkhill, John Danesh, Sharon Peacock
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: NHS Blood and Transplant, UK Research and Innovation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation, Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health Agency, Isaac Newton Trust, Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate, NIHR BioResource, Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Health Data Research UK
Awards: G139696651, G1671907826, G1857818866, G1953244154, Large-scale integrative genomic studies of high-dimensional traits in cardiovascular diseases (renewal), G2493601830, G2537968379, G2804450655, G3047162043, G3217060148, G3584577881, G3620770813, G370598735, G3986547339, G4124815159, G4194769985, G4584873075, G4753630297, G5117680084, G5298934099, G5405139249, G547228424, G5514838787, G5546567188, G587296758, G6077662935, CARRIAGE: Understanding the biological basis of persistent carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in humans, G6641991021, G6664751172, G6787924332, The BHF Chair of Epidemiology and Medicine, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application (renewal). (Joint funding with MRC), G762219591, G7818755567, G7939076303, G8053612168, G8346449347, Large-scale integrative studies of risk factors in coronary heart disease: from discovery to application
OpenAlex ID: W7225043235