TABLE 4.

S. aureus colonization and antibody prevalence according to age

Age range	No. of subjects	% with S. aureus	% with positive antibodya	% of S. aureus carriers with TSST-1	% with positive antibodya among TSST-1 carriers
13-18	475	30	81b	27	100
19-35	2,036	26	85	24	97
36-40	501	25	86	29	97
All subjects	3,012	26	85	25	98c

^aTiter of ≥1:32.

^bP < 0.05 versus the other two age groups.

^cAges of the five S. aureus TSST-1 carriers without positive antibody titer were 19, 20, 23, 34, and 40.