RESUMO
Asymptomatic carriage of Staphylococcus aureus is a major risk factor for subsequent clinical infection. Diminishing returns from mitigation efforts emphasize the need to better understand colonization, spread, and transmission of this opportunistic pathogen. While contact with other people presents opportunities for pathogen exposure and transmission, diversity of social connections may be protective against pathogens such as the common cold. This study examined whether social relationship resources, including the amount and diversity of social contacts, are associated with S. aureus colonization. Participants were community members (N = 443; 68% Hispanic) in naturally occurring social groups in southwestern Arizona. Four types of social relationships and loneliness were assessed, and samples from the skin, nose and throat were obtained to ascertain S. aureus colonization. Overall S. aureus prevalence was 64.8%. Neither the amount nor the diversity of social contacts were associated with S. aureus colonization. The concurrent validity of the social relationship assessments was supported by their moderate intercorrelations and by their positive association with self-rated health. The results suggest that the association of social network diversity and susceptibility to the common cold does not extend to S. aureus colonization. Conversely, colonization prevalence was not higher among those with more social contacts. The latter pattern suggests that social transmission may be relatively infrequent or that more intimate forms of social interaction may drive transmission and colonization resulting in high community prevalence of S. aureus colonization. These data inform communicable disease control efforts.
Assuntos
Resfriado Comum , Staphylococcus aureus Resistente à Meticilina , Infecções Estafilocócicas , Humanos , Staphylococcus aureus , Estudos Transversais , Grupo Social , México/epidemiologia , Infecções Estafilocócicas/epidemiologia , Interação Social , Portador Sadio/epidemiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: We examined the relationship between ethnic self-identification and the partitioning of health risk within a Mexican American population. METHODS: We combined data from the 2000 to 2002 National Health Interview Surveys to obtain a large (N = 10 044) sample of US residents of Mexican ancestry. We evaluated health risk, defined as self-reported current smoking, overweight, and obesity, and compared the predictive strength of health risk correlates across self-identified Mexican and Mexican American participants. RESULTS: Self-identified Mexican participants were less likely to smoke (odds ratio [OR] = 0.70; 95% confidence interval[CI] = 0.60, 0.83; P < .001) and to be obese (OR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.56, 0.77; P < .001) than were self-identified Mexican American participants. Within-group analyses found that sociodemographic predictors had inconsistent and even contradictory patterns of association with health risk across the 2 subgroups. Health risk was consistently lower among immigrants relative to US-born participants. Ethnic self-identification effects were independent of socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: US residents of Mexican ancestry showed substantial within-group differences in health risk and risk correlates. Ethnic self-identification is a promising strategy to clarify differential risk and may help resolve apparent discrepancies in health risk correlates in this literature.