Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Community-associated Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Healthy Women in Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose: An investigation of the antimicrobial susceptibility patternsof Staphylococcus aureus isolated from healthy women to ten commonlyused antimicrobial drugs was carried out as a basis for a guide forempirical antimicrobial treatment using urine samples.Method: The samples collected from healthy women volunteers in Zariawere cultured and screened for S. aureus using standard microbiologicalprocedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates wasinvestigated using disc diffusion technique.Result: A total of 54(36%) S. aureus isolates were isolated from 150urine samples collected. Of the 54 isolates, 16 (29.6%), 15 (27.8%)and 23 (42.6%) were from married but not pregnant, pregnant and singlewomen respectively. The isolates were highly susceptible tociprofloxacin, gentamicin, ofloxacin, sparfloxacin and pefloxacin inboth groups ( married and single). The differences observed in all theantimicrobial drugs tested for both groups were not statisticallysignificant (p>0.05). A total of 34 (63%) of the isolates showedmulti-drug resistance and only 6 (11%) were susceptible to all theantimicrobial drugs tested.Conclusion: This observation calls for measures to reduce the reservoirof antimicrobial resistant organisms in healthy populations.