1168. Are the Staphylococcus aureus Isolates that Recolonize Infants in a NICU Following Successful Decolonization the Same or Different from the Initial Colonizing Isolate?

Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen of infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Colonization precedes infection and decolonization may prevent infection. The origin of colonizing organisms may be the NICU environment or personnel or visitors. We have observed infants who became recolonized after successful decolonization. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of infants who become recolonized with the same strain or a different strain. Methods Eligible infants were consecutive infants who 1. were colonized with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and were successfully decolonized with topical mupirocin ointment (nares and umbilicus) as evidenced by 2 or more consecutive negative weekly surveillance cultures (in the absence of a course of systemic antibiotics with activity against MSSA), 2. subsequently became recolonized, and 3. the pair of isolates was available for analysis. Isolates were analyzed by staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing and pairs with concordant spa types were subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS; Illumina MiSeq) and phylogenetic analyses. Pairs of isolates with fewer than 25 single nucleotide polymorphism differences were considered closely related. Results There were 19 occurrences of MSSA recolonization in 17 infants following 2-6 (median, 2) negative weekly intervening surveillance cultures. Based upon spa typing (that identified 19 spa types), in 11 (58%) there was a concordant spa type and in 8 (42%) there was a discordant spa type. Of the 11 pairs of isolates with concordant spa types that were compared after WGS, 10 were closely related resulting overall in recolonization with a closely related strain in 53% of episodes. Conclusion Among MSSA colonized infants who become recolonized after successful decolonization, the recolonizing strain is the same as the original strain in over half of cases. In such cases the source is more likely to be a visitor than the NICU environment or staff. The possibility that some cases classified as recolonization were in fact persistent low level colonization or carriage in another body site not detected by surveillance cultures cannot be excluded. Disclosures Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, MD, PhD, Merck (Grant/Research Support)