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Contamination of expressed human breast milk with an epidemic multiresistant Staphylococcus aureus clone

F.R. NOVAK^*,, A.V. DA SILVA^*, A.N. HAGLER^* and A.M. S. FIGUEIREDO^*

*Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, CCS, Bl I, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ and Instituto Fernandes Figueira, Banco de Leite Humano, Av. Rui Barbosa, 716, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

Corresponding author: Dr A. M. S. Figueiredo. Present address: Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.

Received 30 May 1999; revised version received 27 Jan. 2000; accepted 13 March 2000.

Abstract

Nosocomial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a major cause of outbreaks in intensive care units. Infants make up a sector of the population that presents a high risk for MRSA infections. Mother-to-infant transmission has been indicated as a possible cause of MRSA infections in neonates. The occurrence and characteristics of MRSA in samples of banked human milk were investigated by selective culture, antibiogram and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. MRSA contamination was found in 11% of 500 samples of expressed, fresh-frozen milk from 500 different donors at five Brazilian milk banks. The great majority of the contaminated samples passed breast milk quality control criteria for dispensing as raw milk under Brazilian and American guidelines. Most of the MRSA isolates belonged to the Brazilian epidemic clone, which is reported to be widespread in several Brazilian states, in Argentina and in Portugal. It is concluded that expressed breast milk can be a reservoir of multiresistant S. aureus epidemic clones. Studies are necessary to assess the source of contamination and potential role of MRSA-contaminated milk in the transmission of MRSA to neonates.

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