Objectives: We investigated the prevalence and the risk factors of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus carrying Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes [Sa PVL(+)] in pupils.
Study population and methods: Two hundred and fifty-seven pupils were screened by nasal swabbing. The detection of 16S rRNA, mecA and luk-PV genes was performed by PCR and the risk factors were assessed with the statistical analysis of a questionnaire.
Results: Thirty-one percent of pupils were colonized, with 16.4% of isolates carrying the luk-PV gene and 8.8% the mecA gene. Children aged 7years or more and living in a boarding school were the factors promoting nasal carriage 60% of children who presented with an abscess in the previous year were carriers of luk-PV gene Sa.
Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of luk-PV gene among methicillin-susceptible strains and a statistically significant correlation between the presence of this gene and presenting with an abscess.
Keywords: Leucocidine de Panton-Valentine; Nasal carriage; Panton-Valentine leukocidin; Portage nasal; S. aureus.
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