Nasal carriers

There was a question in class about whether those individuals who carry Staphylococcus aureus are more likely to get nosocomial infections. Great question, and the answer is fascinating. Kindly provided by a study of:
Risk and outcome of nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in nasal carriers versus non-carriers
Published in the Lancet journal in 2004. This is so relevant I think I'll actually mention this one in class. The answer is that as a carrier you are three times more likely to get an infection but much less likely to die of an infection if you get one. Non carriers are thus less likely to get infected but more likely to die if they do get infected!