About 8 percent of local preschoolers in Taiwan are infected with a multidrug-resistant bacteria that causes various types of infections, pediatricians said yesterday, citing the results of a study.
The study, which involved 6,000 participants between two months and five years of age in 2008, showed an average of 7.8 percent of children carry the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in the inner lining of their noses, Chen Chih-jung (陳志榮) of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Chang Gung Children’s Hospital said.
The carrier rate was found to be 9.5 percent among children living in the northern regions of the country, which was higher than in central and southern areas, where the rate was 7.7 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.
Overall, the rate was slightly higher than in other countries, said Chen, suggesting that the environment in Taiwan was the major cause.
He said an estimated 30 to 50 percent of healthy adults carry MRSA, but children are at a greater risk of developing MRSA-related problems, such as pneumonia and wound infections, because their immune systems are weaker.
The chances of contracting MRSA are higher among children two to six months old, those in kindergarten and those with siblings, the study found.
However, children who were breastfed have greater resistance to MRSA, according to the findings of the study.
Citing another study that was conducted over a four-year period from 2005, Chen said the number of children with community-acquired MRSA was on the rise. Parents should make sure their children develop the habit of washing their hands regularly, he said.
Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉成), another pediatrician at the hospital, said that although there has been a decrease in hospital--acquired MRSA because of disease control measures in recent years, the bacteria are still rampant in communities.
The findings of the study were published in January in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
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