Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in children receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis.

The frequency of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) nasal carriage and the impact of antibiotic therapy remain undefined in children receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). We obtained a nasal culture for SA every 4-12 weeks in 21 children (mean age 7.03 +/- 5.8 years) receiving PD from January 1992 to August 1996 (total of 35.3 patient-years). In each case, SA nasal carriage (NSA+) was treated with intranasal mupirocin for 7 days. NSA+ was detected in 13 patients (61.9%) who received dialysis for 28.9 patient-years. Eight (61.5%) of 13 patients became NSA+ during the initial 3 months of dialysis. Seven (53.8%) of the NSA+ patients had 11 exit-site infections (ESI) and one episode of peritonitis (0.42 total infections/patient-year) due to SA. The 8 patients without SA nasal carriage (NSA-) received dialysis for 6.4 patient-years. None of the NSA-patients had an ESI or peritonitis with SA. Finally, the incidence of non-SA infections in the NSA+ and NSA- groups was not different (0.62 vs 0.31 total infections/patient-year, p > 0.05). In conclusion, there appears to be an association between SA nasal carriage and SA ESI in children on PD. The risk of SA peritonitis in NSA+ patients treated with mupirocin may be minimal. The risk of SA nasal carriage may increase with time on dialysis.