{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:29:12Z","timestamp":1787027352222,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780617600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Funeral industry workers face potential microbial exposure when handling corpses, yet quantitative risk assessments for specific pathogens like\n                      <jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      remain limited.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study assessed health risks to funeral staff from\n                      <jats:italic>S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      [including methicillin-resistant\n                      <jats:italic>Staphylococcus aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (MRSA)] exposure via contaminated surfaces, identifying critical risk nodes and contributing factors. Methods: In 2024, we collected 85 swab samples from high-touch surfaces (cosmetics, tools, faucets, door handles, countertops) across four Anhui funeral parlors. Total bacterial counts, coliforms, and\n                      <jats:italic>S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      were quantified. Using on-site data and occupational parameters, we developed a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model for the \u201csurface-hand-mouth\u201d transmission route, employing Monte Carlo simulation (10,000 iterations) and comparative risk ranking.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Surface total colony count qualification rate was 91.76%, with\n                      <jats:italic>S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      detected on 16.47% of surfaces; 35.71% of isolates were MRSA. Faucets showed highest\n                      <jats:italic>S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      concentrations. The median potential intake via indirect environmental contact (faucets: 146.7 MPN\/day) was 2.15 times higher than direct contact with makeup tools (68.2 MPN\/day). Sensitivity analysis identified hand-mouth transfer efficiency and faucet contamination levels as key uncertainty drivers.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This first-ever combination of environmental monitoring and quantitative exposure modeling in funeral hygiene reveals that indirect environmental exposure may pose greater\n                      <jats:italic>S. aureus<\/jats:italic>\n                      transmission risk than direct tool contact. Findings emphasize enhanced cleaning of high-touch surfaces and rigorous hand hygiene, providing scientific basis for risk-based infection control strategies.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1823786","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T05:40:51Z","timestamp":1780638051000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessing the risk of Staphylococcus aureus contamination and occupational exposure on high-frequency contact surfaces in funeral venues"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Pan","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Disinfection and Vector Control Institute, Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peiru","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Disinfection and Vector Control Institute, Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Disinfection and Vector Control Institute, Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fang","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Disinfection and Vector Control Institute, Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Antibiotics Laboratory, Anhui Institute for Food and 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