Application of whole-genome sequencing to understand transmission of healthcareassociated Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of healthcare associated infection. Efforts to reduce the burden of S. aureus infections in healthcare settings have targeted patient carriage and preventing person-to-person transmission. These measures have only been partially successful. Our understanding of S. aureus transmission is limited by low discrimination of currently available typing techniques. The high resolution offered by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has the potential to overcome these limitations. Work undertaken in this thesis exploits recent advances in WGS to understand S. aureus transmission in healthcare settings and in so doing establish the potential for WGS to replace current typing systems in infection control practice.

Date of Award	Mar 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton