Which bacteria are commonly carried by about a third of the population and can spread via skin-to-skin contact?

• A. Streptococci
• B. E. coli
• C. Salmonella
• D. Staphylococci

Answer: (D)

Staphylococci are common skin and nasal residents, and about one in three people carry them without symptoms. Because they live on the skin, they can be spread easily through direct skin-to-skin contact, which is common in close-contact settings like a salon. This carrier state means an infected or colonized person can transfer the bacteria to another person or to contaminated tools or surfaces, potentially causing skin infections such as boils or impetigo.

The other organisms don’t fit this pattern as well. E. coli and Salmonella are primarily gut bacteria and are spread mainly through contaminated food, water, or the fecal-oral route, not through casual skin contact. Streptococci can infect skin or throat, but their asymptomatic carriage in about a third of the population isn’t characteristic in the same widespread, skin-to-skin transmission sense as staphylococci.