Social Networks of S. aureus Carriage Among Drug Users

描述（由申请人提供）：金黄色葡萄球菌是吸毒者中细菌感染的最常见原因，并且越来越多地被认为是艾滋病患者危及生命的疾病的主要原因。 吸毒者和HIV感染者的定植率和随后的感染率均增加。金黄色。 对S.金黄色葡萄球菌鼻腔定植或任何已知的高危人群中定植率增加的基础。 在一项对活跃的吸毒者的社区研究中，我们发现了几个生物学上相连的网络，这些网络的受试者被密切相关的沙门氏菌菌株定殖。金黄色。 通过脉冲场凝胶电泳（PFGE）建立的菌株的生物学联系，首先确定了这些网络。 这项研究证明了吸毒环境，一个“裂缝的房子”，和生物连接的网络S。金黄色。 该建议的总体目标是确定S的程度、模式和机制。金黄色葡萄球菌在吸毒风险网络中的传播。 我们的具体目标如下。 1.建立S.药物使用网络中的金黄色葡萄球菌定植。 2.探讨S.金黄色葡萄球菌定植与吸毒网络结构、危险行为和吸毒环境特征有关。 3.检查辅助因素，如艾滋病毒状况是否影响殖民化。 4.确定吸毒用具对S.金黄色。 5.使用PFGE和多位点序列分型分析葡萄球菌分离株，以确定菌株身份和分离株之间的相关性程度，将其与国际和区域菌株数据库相关联，补充通过生物连锁数据访谈确定的社会网络联系，并确定哪种分型工具在这种情况下最有用。 6.使用分型工具生成的菌株谱来鉴定赋予这些菌株生态优势的毒力决定因素，使它们能够定殖、抵抗抗生素并在受试者中传播。 本研究利用了米勒博士先前在布鲁克林贝德福德斯图文森区的女性吸毒者及其网络成员。 这将使这项调查迅速融入她正在进行的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Staphylococcus aureus is the single most common cause of bacterial infections among drug users and is increasingly recognized as a major cause of life-threatening disease in patients with AIDS. Both drug users and HIV-infected individuals have an increased incidence of colonization and subsequent infection with S. aureus. Little is known about the biology of S. aureus nasal colonization or the basis for the increased rate of colonization among any of the known high-risk groups. In a community study of active drug users, we found several biologically linked networks of subjects colonized with closely related strains of S. aureus. The biologic linkage of the strains, established by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), first identified these networks. This study demonstrated a relationship between the drug use setting, a "crack house", and the biologically linked networks of S. aureus. The overall goal of this proposal is to define the extent, patterns and mechanisms of S. aureus transmission among drug use risk networks. Our specific aims are the following. 1. Establish the baseline distribution of S. aureus colonization in drug use networks. 2. Explore the extent to which the prevalence and strain similarity of S. aureus colonization are associated with the structure of drug use networks, risk behaviors and features of drug use settings. 3. Examine whether co-factors, such as HIV status influences colonization. 4. Determine the contribution of drug use paraphernalia to the transmission of S. aureus. 5. Analyze staphylococcal isolates using PFGE and multilocus sequence typing, in order to define strain identity and the degree of relatedness among isolates, correlate them with international and regional strain databases, supplement social network linkages identified through interview with biologic linkage data and determine which typing tool is most useful in this setting. 6. Use the strain profiles generated by the typing tools to identify virulence determinants that confer an ecologic advantage to these strains, enabling them to colonize, resist antibiotics and spread among subjects. The present study takes advantage of Dr. Miller's preexistent cohort of women drug users and their network members in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. This will allow for the rapid integration of this investigation into her ongoing study.