Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) spa type t4549 is increasingly prevalent in Denmark, yet its epidemiological sources remain unclear. This study aimed to generate hypotheses about possible risk factors that may be associated with MRSA t4549 infections. We conducted a nationwide case – case questionnaire study comparing MRSA t4549 cases to other MRSA types (t002, t008, t127, t304, and t223) reported between January 2022 and November 2023. The analysis, which included descriptive statistics and logistic regression, found that 75% of MRSA t4549 cases were male. Infections were significantly more frequent in the foot (28%) and toe (54%) compared to other MRSA types. Key risk factors identified were contact with pheasants (OR = 8.70; 95%CI 1.25–174.29), participation in indoor team sports (OR = 7.54, 95%CI: 1.58–54.82) and swimming (OR = 4.15, 95%CI: 1.97–9.03). Although the limited number of cases warrants cautious interpretation, it is crucial to emphasize the need for preventive measures at both the individual and sports facility levels. Further environmental studies are needed to clarify the role of the environment and wildlife in MRSA t4549 transmission. The increasing prevalence of this spa type in Denmark underlines the importance of implementing effective public health strategies to reduce the risk of MRSA transmission.

The goal of this research is to establish a methodology to actively control a pneumatically driven robotic device that can induce specific muscle force patterns in target muscles during a subject's voluntary movement. In this paper, the generation of constant forces in the rectus femoris muscle throughout the knee extension, i.e., isotonic contractions, was studied. Due to a highly nonlinear nature of mapping the joint torque to muscle force, a simple application of constant torques to the knee joint would not realize isotonic contractions. The proposed robotic exercise accounted for nonlinear moment arms of muscles as functions of joint angles and nonlinear coordination of multiple muscles in the neuromuscular system to accomplish individual muscle control. A pneumatically powered one degree-of-freedom device that can impose active force feedback control has been designed and built. An exercise-planning algorithm has been developed that involved a musculoskeletal model of the lower body, and the dynamics of a pneumatic actuator. Five constant force profiles were tested for 20 healthy volunteers and electromyographic signals were collected while the device was applying calculated force profiles.