Staphylococcus aureus on the hair.

Staphylococcus aureus was found to be present on the hair of about 10% of people having no hospital contact and on that of about 50% of patients with skin diseases. The ;resident' carrier rate was higher in patients with eczema and psoriasis than in others and appeared to be related to carriage of the organisms on the skin. Much of the ;transient' carriage could be attributed to contamination from other sources in the ward.