A STUDY ON NASAL CARRIAGE OF MRSA AND ITS ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND HOSPITALISED PATIENTS.

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common and important pathogen, responsible for the majority of nosocomial infections. Nasal carriage is a major risk factor for S. aureus infection that differs from person to person. 200 nasal swabs (100 from hospitalized patients and 100 from healthy individuals) have been collected as per standard policy protocols. Detailed history was collected and only those personnel were included in the study who had not taken any antibiotic 7 days before sample collection. S. aureus isolates were confirmed by various biochemical tests as per latest CLSI guidelines. Cefoxitin Disk Diffusion test was performed for the detection of methicillin resistance and antibiotic susceptibility was performed against different antibiotics as per CLSI guidelines. Out of the 100 healthy subjects 49{%} S. aureus and 8.16{%} MRSA isolates were obtained while as out of 100 hospitalized subjects 71{%} S. aureus and 39.4{%} MRSA isolates have been detected from the nasal swabs. Penicillin was found to be the most resistant drug in both groups of isolates where as Vancomycin and Linezolid have been the drugs of choice. A significant difference was analyzed when the resistant rate of HA-MRSA against HA-MSSA was compared (p{