Coagulase-positive Staphylococci in Oral and Nasal Areas of Dental Students: A Four-Year Study

¹ Departments of Dental Research and Microbiology, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

Samples of saliva and nasal swabs were obtained from seventy students during their 4 years in dental school. Coagulase-positive staphylococci were found in the saliva samples as often as in the nasal samples. No clear-cut evidence of an increase in the incidence of the organisms from either area was noted during the clinical years.

Coagulase-positive staphylococci were repeatedly isolated from both the oral and nasal areas of forty students in 1960, twenty-nine in 1961, and thirty-two in 1963. Of these, 62.5, 75.9, and 81.3 per cent consistently carried a bacteriophage type common to both areas.

In seven cases a student carried a specific bacteriophage pattern of a staphylococcus for 1960, 1961, and 1963. Seventeen other students carried specific patterns for 1960 and 1961 and acquired a different strain by 1963.

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