Vitamin D supplementation to persistent carriers of MRSA —a randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trial

AbstractMethicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics and can cause severe infections that are difficult to treat. Eradication strategies with conventional antibiotics are not always effective and alternative approaches are warranted. Here, we tested the hypothesis that daily supplementation with vitamin D for 12  months would reduce MRSA carriage rates among a group of persistent carriers. This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial withn = 65 persistent MRSA carriers with 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25OHD)<  75 nmol/L, who were followed up with bacterial cultures at baseline and every 3 months for 1 year. The primary endpoint was the decline in MRSA positivity during the study period. The study was conducted in two MRSA outpatient clinics at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. I n total,n = 65 persistent MRSA carriers were randomized andn = 3 were lost to follow-up. Only patients deficient in vitamin D (<  75 nmol/L) were included. Vitamin D (4000 IU) or placebo/day was administered for 12 months. The decline in MRSA positivity was equal in the vitamin D and placebo group during the study period (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.97–1.03;p = 0.928) and approximately 40% in both groups were MRSA-negative after 12 months. The vitamin D group produced 103 positive cultures out of 318 cultures (32.4%) from nose, throat, and perineum over the study period, whereas the placebo gro...
Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research