Incidence and Risk Factors of Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in HIV-Infected Individuals in Comparison to HIV-Uninfected Individuals A Case–Control Study

The study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of nasal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus in individuals with HIV infection attending the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre in a teaching hospital and compare the prevalence with HIV-uninfected individuals. A case–control study was conducted among newly diagnosed HIV-infected individuals and an equal number of age-group and sex-matched HIV-uninfected individuals, and nasal swabs were collected from both the samples. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected through individual interviews. Ethical aspects were respected. A total of 100 individuals participated in the study, and 22 (44%) of the 50 HIV-infected cases were colonized by S aureus, including 19 (86.4%) methicillin-sensitive S aureus (MSSA) and 3 (13.6%) methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA). Only 12 (24%) strains were isolated from 50 HIV-uninfected individuals, with 11 being MSSA and 1 being MRSA. This difference in the isolation rate was statistically significant (P = .035)...