R01AI193629

Real-time detection of Staphylococcus aureus transmission in hospital settings - Summary

Staphylococcus aureus infections, especially methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA), lead to high morbidity and mortality rates in hospitals.

Currently, hospitals primarily rely on clinical cultures for MRSA surveillance, which often fails to accurately detect transmission events due to their inability to assess genetic relatedness among bacterial strains.

Using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for early outbreak recognition is crucial for enhancing infection control measures that will reduce the morbidity, mortality, and dissemination of pathogenic genetic variants.

However, our preliminary hospital-wide WGS analysis indicates that detecting MRSA transmission in real-time remains challenging because individuals involved in asymptomatic transmission events are not sampled.

Consequently, asymptomatic acquisitions often remain unnoticed until readmission or subsequent screening, delaying timely intervention and effective cluster management.

Timely detection of transmission events is essential to stop the spread of MRSA and prevent outbreaks.

To address the issue at the implementation level, we propose a two-pronged approach.

In Aim 1, we will integrate weekly colonization sampling with hospital-wide genomic surveillance to analyze phylogenetic relationships among S. aureus strains.

This will help establish a method for detecting real-time transmission events in high-risk hospital wards.

Aim 2 focuses on developing predictive models that combine patient, bacterial, and contact network characteristics linked to in-hospital transmission events.

These models will synthesize demographic, spatiotemporal, and genomic data to optimize sampling intervals and, ultimately guiding future studies of real-time targeted interventions.

We will also compare the cost-effectiveness of different sampling strategies.

By enhancing our understanding of transmission dynamics and personalized predictive modeling, this research will shift hospitals from reactive to proactive management of S. aureus transmission clusters.

The results will also provide crucial inputs to inform the design of future randomized trials to evaluate these strategies’ effects on morbidity, mortality, and cost.

These insights are expected to have broad implications for the surveillance and management of other hospital-acquired pathogens, ultimately contributing to better patient outcomes and more efficient use of healthcare resources.

New York University

TO ASSIST PUBLIC AND PRIVATE NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO ESTABLISH, EXPAND AND IMPROVE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS, TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS. TO ASSIST PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS, TO PROVIDE RESEARCH SERVICES AS REQUIRED BY THE AGENCY FOR PROGRAMS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AND CONTROLLING DISEASE CAUSED BY INFECTIOUS OR PARASITIC AGENTS, ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS. PROJECTS RANGE FROM STUDIES OF MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND ANTIGENIC STRUCTURE TO COLLABORATIVE TRIALS OF EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS AND VACCINES, MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS AS WELL AS RESEARCH DEALING WITH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS OR COMMUNITY POPULATIONS AND PROGRESS IN ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES. BECAUSE OF THIS DUAL FOCUS, THE PROGRAM ENCOMPASSES BOTH BASIC RESEARCH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM EXPANDS AND IMPROVES PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. THE SBIR PROGRAM INTENDS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATES AND FOSTERS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. RESEARCH CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE FORMATIVE STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS (NRSAS) ARE MADE DIRECTLY TO APPROVE APPLICANTS FOR RESEARCH TRAINING IN SPECIFIED BIOMEDICAL SHORTAGE AREAS. IN ADDITION, INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS ARE MADE TO ENABLE INSTITUTIONS TO SELECT AND MAKE AWARDS TO INDIVIDUALS TO RECEIVE TRAINING UNDER THE AEGIS OF THEIR INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM.

93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [HHS - NIH]

New York United States

State-Wide

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)