Staph in Your Nose: What It Means to Be a Carrier

What it means to carry staph

Being a staph carrier means Staphylococcus aureus lives on your body without making you sick. Doctors call this being “colonized”. There’s no rash, no pain and no fever. Most carriers never find out.⁵ Being a carrier is not the same as having an infection, and it isn’t a sign that you did anything wrong.

The inside of the nose, just past the nostrils, is staph’s main home.¹ It can also live on the skin, in the armpits, in the gut and in the groin area.³

How common it is

Very common. About 1 in 3 people carry staph in their nose, and about 2 in 100 carry MRSA, the type that doesn’t respond to some common antibiotics.¹

Carriage also changes over time. A well-known review described three patterns: about 20% of people carry staph nearly all the time, about 60% carry it on and off, and about 20% almost never carry it.² Later studies have found a wider spread in these numbers, but the idea holds: some noses are friendlier to staph than others.³ In one study described in that review, researchers placed staph in volunteers’ noses. It was gone in about 4 days in people who weren’t carriers, but lasted more than 154 days in persistent carriers.³

Why some people carry it

Scientists are still working out why. Studies have linked higher carriage rates to several factors, including diabetes, obesity, atopic dermatitis (a common form of eczema) and a history of repeat boils.³ People whose skin is often punctured, such as people on dialysis, also carry staph more often.²

Close contact plays a part, too. Staph moves between people who live together, and family members who carry it without symptoms can keep passing it around.⁶

When being a carrier matters

For most healthy people, most of the time, carrying staph causes no problems. But carriers do face a higher risk of infection in certain situations, including surgery, dialysis and having devices like IV lines.² People who carry MRSA also face a higher risk of infection.² Outside those situations, most carriers go about their lives without any staph problems.

Why the extra risk? The staph that causes an infection is often a person’s own. One review found that around 80% of staph infections at surgery sites matched the staph in the patient’s nose.³ Carriers can also pass staph to others, even without symptoms.¹ See is staph contagious? for more on how it spreads.

Testing and what doctors may do

A nose or skin swab can show whether you carry staph or MRSA.⁴ A positive result doesn’t mean you’re sick. It means the germ is there.⁴ Most people don’t need this test. Your doctor may order one before some surgeries, during a hospital stay, or if you keep getting skin infections.

Clearing staph from carriers, called decolonization, has been shown to lower infection rates in some surgical and dialysis patients.² For people with repeat skin infections, experts say treating the whole household often works better than one person acting alone.⁶ This usually involves prescription products and a set routine, so it’s a plan to make with your doctor, not something to try on your own. If your doctor does recommend it, ask exactly how and when to do each step, and follow the plan closely.

Everyday habits for carriers

You don’t need to know whether you’re a carrier to protect yourself and others. The same habits work either way:

• Wash your hands often, especially after touching your nose or face.
• Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered until they heal.
• Don’t share towels, razors or needles.⁵
• Try not to pick your nose or scratch at scabs, which moves staph onto broken skin.
• Wash towels and pillowcases regularly, and dry them completely.

These habits cost little and protect the people around you, whether or not you ever get tested.

When to see a doctor

Being a carrier isn’t an illness. But call a doctor if you notice:

• A bump or sore that is red, swollen, warm, painful or full of pus
• Fever or chills with a skin infection
• Skin infections that keep coming back, in you or others at home
• Redness, swelling or drainage near a surgical wound or medical device

Get urgent care or call 911 for a fever with fast-spreading redness, confusion, trouble breathing, or a baby who seems very sick.

If you have surgery coming up, it’s fair to ask your care team whether they screen for staph and what they recommend.