High salivary Staphylococcus aureus carriage rate among healthy paedodontic patients.

Staphylococcus aureus can be responsible for oral and dental healthcare-associated infections. Patients with high salivary S. aureus levels are potential sources of infection, because saliva is spread in the environment during dental therapy. This study assessed the salivary S. aureus carriage rate in 97 children (6-12 years) in good general health, attending a paedodontic department. Samples of unstimulated saliva were collected, S. aureus was presumptively identified. The salivary carriage rate was 43% (95% confidence interval, 33%-53%). 6.2% children harboured levels >103 colony forming units/mL. These data suggest that the risk for environmental contamination and infection in dental healthcare settings could be high.

Low methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriage rate among Italian dental students.

We assessed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage rate among dental students from an Italian university. A total of 157 subjects participated (67 preclinical students and 90 clinical students); samples were collected from the nose, mouth, and skin. Five preclinical students and 0 clinical students were MRSA-positive. Carriage rates were 3.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4%-6.0%) overall, 7.5% (95% CI, 1.2%-13.8%) in preclinical students and 0% in clinical students. There were 2 MRSA clusters among the preclinical students: 3 second-year and 2 first-year students, who sat close to one another in the classroom the day of the sample. MRSA carriage was not associated with dental health care. The pooled carriage rate among dental students was assessed to obtain a reliable figure of carriage rate unaffected by local conditions. The 4 published surveys were pooled, and the fixed-effects method was used. Among the 484 dental students, the pooled carriage rate was 4.1% (95% CI, 2.4%-5.8%).

Dentists' awareness toward vaccine preventable diseases.

Effective infection control in dentistry is unfeasible without an adequate immunization program for dental health care providers (DHCPs). Such an assumption is demonstrated for some vaccine preventable infectious diseases (VPIDs), such as Hepatitis B, Influenza and Varicella. However, excluding Hepatitis B vaccine, immunization programs for DHCPs are few and often unclear about which vaccinations are recommended, thus leading to generally low awareness and consequent low vaccination rates. This survey investigated dentists' awareness toward VPIDs. At the moment of registration to a dental congress, a questionnaire regarding the immunization status toward VPIDs was anonymously filled in by 379 Italian dentists (86% of the contacted dentists), with at least fifteen years of activity. DHCP specific awareness was considered high if dentists reported to have controlled the serum level of anti-HBs during the last ten years and have received seasonal influenza vaccine annually. Awareness toward VPIDs was classified high if dentists reported to be immune against six or seven of the following VIPDs, Hepatitis B, Influenza, Varicella, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Tetanus. DHCP specific awareness resulted high for 32.5% of subjects and low for 31.1%. None of the subjects reported high awareness toward VPIDs, while for 60% of them, such awareness was low (immunization status reported for none or one of the seven VPIDs). Low dentists' awareness stresses the need for a transparent immunization program which is effective in controlling VPID transmission in the dental health care settings and focuses on those VPIDs which pose a true risk of infection for DHCPs and patients.