FIG. 1.

S. aureus predominantly colonizes the moist squamous epithelium adjacent to the nasal ostium. The right nasal vestibule of each donor was swabbed in five distinct regions, A to E; in addition, bacteria were quantified from three clipped nose hairs (region F). The swab specimens were plated on TSA–5% sheep blood, and S. aureus CFU (A) and coagulase-negative staphylococcus CFU (B) were quantified for each region (18 donors). The majority (>60%) of S. aureus bacteria were isolated from region B (asterisk). Error bars represent the SEM.